


Power Bloods

by creativeTurmoil



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/M, Humanstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-01-15 16:16:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1311184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creativeTurmoil/pseuds/creativeTurmoil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People have always held power, but some are born with extraordinary gifts that in the modern age are considered taboo. But as with anything that is pushed out of sight, these people are springing forth into the world more than ever before.</p>
<p>Being a hero takes courage, or so they say. But there was also an underlying question that comes with that statement: What is a hero? Heroes could range from everyday people who stand strong when facing opposition; they could be a police officer putting his life at risk to help uphold the law; a hero could be anybody with the power and means and motive to do what they think is best for the greater good of those around them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to say thank you to my betas- you three know who you are and I can never thank you enough! They have been marvelously patient as I write this story out and are the reason I am even posting it.
> 
> This was originally going to be a series of one shots, but the story had other plans. The first few chapters will be rather short, but I can assure you that each chapter gradually gets longer than its predecessor.

With a sigh, Nepeta stared blankly at the screen in front of her. Her dual monitors were both on- one screen displaying her email and the other had a working window for her drawing and editing program. She had been commissioned to work on a new advertising campaign for a local business, but the instructions were vague. How did they expect good results without giving her a clear indication as to what they wanted and didn’t want?

Her stomach growled again. Nepeta groaned, finally relenting to her body’s functional needs, and pushed her swivel chair away from the desk. Standing up, her bare feet padded across the open studio apartment to where her kitchen was. The small table was cluttered with newspaper articles, and her sink had some dishes within that had yet to be washed. Equius would be scolding her for the mess… She chuckled at the thought.

She pulled open a cabinet, frowning at the lack of food. It was then Nepeta remembered she had meant to go grocery shopping earlier that day. She muttered a curse and reached up to pull down a box of granola bars. At least there was something to keep her temporarily satisfied.

Turning around, Nepeta brushed some of her red hair from her face and took a few steps to the table to sit. News and tabloid headlines screamed up at her- the words in large font and bold.

‘ **New Hero in Alternia City** ’

‘ **Masked Crusader Spotted Rescuing Fire Marshall** ’

‘ **The Next Generation of Power Bloods** ’

‘ **New Hero Identifies as _LEO_** ’

Nepeta grinned down at the papers, all of which revolved around Alternia City’s newest power blood hero. “Leo” was a shifter from what everyone could gather, meaning her blood color had to be somewhere between yellow and blue. Shifters were one of the rarer powers of those people with multi-colored blood had, and to have multi-colored blood was a phenomenon in and of it self.

As long as humanity had existed, there were stories of people who had gifts, some said to be granted by god himself. Some myths claimed them to be demigods, like Hercules, or demons and angels cast into the world of mortals.

Myths aside, Nepeta couldn’t help her fascination with these people. While most kept their powers and blood hidden, those that were more daring would hide their identities behind masks and go out into the world- whether their goals were ethical or not was another matter.

But, she thought as she finished her granola, there was more to the power bloods than people thought they knew. She should know, seeing as she was the olive blooded Leo.


	2. I

“Did you hear?” A long-haired blonde with wide, fuchsia eyes looked at her red haired companion. The smaller of the two looked up from pouring their tea, having been too preoccupied with the steaming beverage to focus on the newest topic of conversation.

“Hear what?”

Feferi groaned, slumping back in her seat and giving Nepeta an exasperated look. She pouted and crossed her arms, heaving a sigh. “Wha---ale,” she dragged out the word. Nepeta gave her a goodnatured roll of the eyes. “I was GOING to tell you about how I invited a few FUR-rends over to have lunch with us… But I guess you’ll just have to wade and see who they are.”

She wiggled her eyebrows, obviously pleased with herself to have snuck a cat pun in, but Nepeta tensed up.

“I thought it was just going to be us, Fef,” she was frowning now. These lunch get-togethers were one of the few times they got to see each other now that they were adults. Gone were the days of college dorm sleepovers and staying up for 28 hours straight without too much regret. There were jobs they had to do and bills to be paid. Lunch with Feferi and Roxy, when the other blonde was in town, were the highlights of her week, and also how she kept track of her days (sad to say).

“If you weren’t lost at sea with your thoughts, you would have heard me tell you about it!” Feferi defended herself. Nepeta let out a groan and set the teapot on the table.

“When are they supposed to get here?” Nepeta relented easily. They had already been invited, so it’d be very rude to send them away. Plus, it wasn’t her apartment.

Feferi looked over and up at a clock that was hung on her wall. She tilted her head, probably recalling when they were to arrive, when a knock sounded from the door. The two girls jumped, and swiveled around to the doorway of the kitchen that lead into the main hallway. Feferi recovered from the startle, and jumped to her feet.

“That would be them! Would you mind pouring two more cups of tea?” She offered Nepeta a sweet smile before disappearing out of the room. Nepeta strode over to the cabinet that Feferi stored her tea set in and retrieved two more ocean themed cups and saucers. She smiled at porcelain ware; pleased that her friend used the present Nepeta had given her.

Voices sounded from the hallway- Feferi’s excited chatter, a person calmly speaking with a lisp, and someone grumbling words Nepeta couldn’t quite make out. She quickly brought the two cups and saucers over to the table and carefully poured some tea into them. She set down the teapot once more just as the newest guests trudged into the kitchen.

“Hey NP,” Sollux greeted her as she turned around. He was sporting the same bi-colored glasses he’s had since middle school. He had a smug smile on his face as he turned to the other new arrival and nudged him with his elbow. “Aren’t you going to thay hello, KK?”

Nepeta glanced over and bit back a laugh as she spotted Karkat. His dark hair was more askew than normal, and his clothes were a bit rumbled. Karkat looked at her, his red eyes scowling lightly.

“Will you wipe that grin off your face?” He consciously tugged at the edge of his shirt in a futile attempt to make it appear neater. “Sollux just came to my apartment not even fifteen minutes ago and announced he was dragging me to get some fresh air. Thanks again, fuck ass.”

“Your welcome,” Sollux smirked at Karkat as he and Feferi sat down at the table. Nepeta followed suit, taking her seat, which left Karkat standing. He frowned at them and walked around the table to take the seat in the corner of the kitchen. Nepeta slid the freshly brewed tea to each of her companions before lifting her own cup and inhaling the wonderful scent coming from the steaming cup of tea.

Feferi opted to start the conversations, playing the good host as lunch finished cooking in the oven. Nepeta sank into her seat as she relaxed. It wasn’t so bad to have old friends join her girl’s day, even if a little warning would have been nice. Karkat and Sollux’s banter over their respective jobs was silly as it always had been, and Feferi giggled, obviously pleased that everyone was enjoying themselves.

A few minutes passed and the timer of the oven went off. Feferi was quick to pull out her special fish filets, and Nepeta took the time to refill everyone’s teacups. Soon enough, they were eating, the happy chatter slowing down as the boys quickly dug into their portions. Feferi and Nepeta actually stopped to watch them- it was as they hadn’t eaten for days. The girls shared a look and chuckled before they returned to their own plates and all chatter ceased.

Some time later, as they all finished eating, an ear popping chime accompanied by vibrating rang out in the kitchen. Everyone started at the loud buzzing coming from the marble counter top by the stove, to which Nepeta recovered and jumped to her feet as she dashed over to the vibrating phone. It was a text message from Equius, alerting her to a power blood in the area running a rampage. She bit her lip and locked her phone as she tossed it back onto the counter.

“Hey Feferi, can I leave my stuff here for a little while?”

Feferi looked over at Nepeta, cocking an eyebrow. “Sister emergency?”

Nepeta nodded, glad Feferi knew her _Leo_ code. “Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be gone too long, but I need to hurry.”

Feferi smiled and stood up, her chair scrapping against the hardwood floor. “Sure fin. You’d better head out now.” She walked over to Nepeta and lead the redhead out of the kitchen to the parlor. They didn’t go to the door though, but rather the open window that lead to the fire escape. Nepeta hugged Feferi before she climbed out onto the metal structure.“Be careful, Nep.” The blonde watched her friend disappear down to the street below and walked over to the front door, making sure to open and shut it loud enough so the boys would think Nepeta left in haste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first two/three chapters are instances of daily life, routines, the norm. The ball starts rolling come chapter four! From here on out I'll probably post once every week or two- just so I can keep ahead with a queue.


	3. II

White cat ears twitched. Leo leaned precariously over the edge of one of the tallest buildings in Alternia City as she looked down to the still bustling streets below. Even at 10PM, people were meandering about rather than curling up at home with loved ones. She always wondered what those people were doing with their spare time, but then again, she was patrolling or protecting those people from rampant power bloods in her spare time. Considering that, Leo wasn’t sure whether to find those people’s lives duller or better than hers.

Despite what the media proclaimed so often in the news, power bloods weren’t everywhere- at least not everywhere in plain sight. There were no amazing fights every other week, nor were there raving lunatics using their powers in attempt to enslave the human race. Well, maybe not the first one at least.

“It’s rude to stare,” she broke the silence of the rooftop, not bothering to look behind her. She had heard him arrive a couple minutes ago. A smile graced her lips and she lifted her head, showing her friend that he had her attention.

“Is your ego so big you think I was staring at you?” a gruff voice answered her. She bit back a laugh as she glanced over her shoulder. There he stood in all his gray and silver armored glory. His choice of an outfit always reminded her of the suits of armor that knights would wear. It was a thicker type of fabric covered with a special alloy or something- at least that’s how he tried to explain it to her once until she tried to lift the mirror like visor that covered his eyes.

“Oh, I know my ego isn’t as enormous as yours. It’s a respectable size,” she finally turned her body so she could take him in fully. “Besides. You were purrobably checking out my new suit, weren’t you?”

Her tail swished behind her as she walked halfway to him before she struck a pose like models on a runway would. That garnered a laugh from him and he took a couple steps forward to get a better look. Her old uniform had been completely green and had hidden her hair, not to mention it became very… clingy and uncomfortable after too many hours, but this one was none of that. Gone was the full head mask and the horribly slick fabric.

Leo's white hair was pushed back and out of her face, which now adorned a simple ivory mask. The new body suit was mostly the ivory color that matched her mask; olive green gloves were flexible and could expand at the tips of each finger in case she needed her claws. The overall fabric of her suit was breathable and hugged every curve in a flattering manner and even had a small slit so she could let her tail loose rather than having to have it confined rather painfully, and lastly, green boots gave her a height boost of just a couple inches.

She twirled a couple times for him before she stopped. Leo jutted her hip to the right and placed her hand on her it. She grinned, “So, what do you think, Cancer?”

He stared at her a few more moments before nodding, “She did great work as usual.” Leo nodded slightly before rolling her eyes and huffing. “You look great in it, too.”

At that, she scowled, “And here I thought I was going to get an actual compliment from you. ‘Your hair is gorgeous. I didn’t know it was white.’ Oh, thanks, it actually changes to white when I shift. ‘Wow! That’s amazing.’ I know right? Or, maybe even,” she had dropped her scowl at this point. He had crossed his arms and she could imagine him raising an eyebrow at her under that dumb visor. She stepped into his personal space. “’You’re beautiful’?”

She stared up at his visor but only saw her reflection staring back. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

“You just said it for me,” Cancer practically whispered-- his voice sounding just a little deeper now. Her stomach twisted and filled with butterflies. Leo smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth before she leapt back.

“It would have meant more if you said it though,” She turned her back on him in mock anger. Cancer dropped his arms back to his side and walked over to stand next to her. She didn’t look his way, instead, she strode back to where she had been before he arrived and went back to watching the milling citizens. His presence from her side didn’t change, and he leaned over the small railing next to her, but not nearly as much as she was.

It was silent for a short time, the only sounds coming from below. Cars blared their horns occasionally and a few blocks away, she could hear a train arriving in the central station.

“I haven’t seen you around in a while.”

She nodded, “I have another life you know. I don’t go parading myself unlike some other power bloods we know.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just miss having at least a mostly sane PB to talk to instead of someone like Capricorn and his raving talk of saviors and that bullshit,” Cancer was neither frowning nor smiling. She glanced at him.

“I’d liked to point out even someone locked up in an asylum is sane compared to Capricorn.”

“Point taken. But I have been looking for you for a reason,” He straightened up. She quirked a brow and copied him. “I’m forming a team. I have a bad feeling about Capricorn. He hasn’t shown up in half a year, which isn’t like him. I’m gathering every power blood I know so we can all be prepared for when he does return.”

Leo’s brows shot up in surprise. People like them hadn’t formed alliances in centuries, seeing as the last recorded group of power bloods met during the renaissance. She pressed her lips together- she would jump at the chance to join his team. She trusted Cancer with her life and she knew he did the same. Not to mention it would give her more time to be together with the man she was falling in love with...

“I’ll talk to Sagittarius about it.”

Cancer groaned, “I don’t see why you always have to get that reclusive guy’s permission to do certain things. I swear he sounds like a fucking control freak.”

Leo shook her head. “He means well, and he’s looked out for me since I was young and still learning to control my shifting.”

“Yeah, okay. Fine, but I need to know soon. Wait, didn’t you say he was a blue blood once?” She purred as an affirmative. He seemed to contemplate something. “We’ll need all the help we can get, so I guess he’s invited, too.”

Leo pulled at the edge of her glove and nodded, absentmindedly picturing how her friend would react to this. It would only go one of two ways. “How will I tell you my answer? It’s not like we see each other every week.”

“I already thought of that. I’m willing to take off my mask and meet you as a normal person in three days.” That took Leo by surprise. They had talked about taking off their masks and meeting once before, but it wasn’t serious. This was. Cancer was showing how much he trusted her by doing this. She gulped.

“Where?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! Chapter III will be posted next Friday.


	4. III

She wasn’t sure what to think. The night was as it normally was- petty crimes here and there, the occasional cop bust on the streets, or someone running a red light- not that Nepeta was complaining. Nights like these let her think, but that’s what she was hoping to avoid after her encounter with Cancer the previous night. Actually, now that it crossed her mind, this was the first time in a few months she had gone patrolling two nights in a row.

But her patrol was over. She raced against the rising sun, hopping from fire escapes and leaping over alleyways to reach the next rooftop. It was exhilarating. The rushes from these dashes always made her want to scream out in glee or laugh at the freedom it gave her! She could never do this when she was her normal self. No, she was weaker like that- not that she wasn’t strong or anything, but as Leo, as a _shifter_ , her body gained more advantages. She was more flexible, quicker; her senses were heightened far past the human range.

Landing on another concrete roof, Nepeta rolled, easing the impact. She never made too much noise, if any at all. She stood back up and glanced around. This building in particular was one of the three Equius owned. She scanned the surrounding buildings, careful for peeping eyes. Seeing no one, Nepeta walked over to the stairwell that would lead inside. The door was unlocked, as it usually was, and Nepeta didn’t hesitate to walk in. Equius was expecting her after all.

Two flights down brought her to a large, mostly unfurnished room. Only a table stood in the center, and laid upon it were some clothes and a steaming mug. Nepeta smiled as she strode over. Even though he greatly disapproved of her Leo identity, he always made sure to help her. Equius was always watching out for her, protecting her in the few ways he knew how.

Slowly, Nepeta began to shift back to her everyday self. The white tail at the small of her back grew shorter and shorter before disappearing all together as she relaxed the muscles in her back; a shake of her head had her ears morphing down the side of her head as her hair changed from wavy, ivory strands to curly, red locks. Nepeta reached up to her face and removed her mask as her eyes lost their feline irises in favor of her normal olive green color. She blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust from the shifts in light and stretched her muscles once more as she finally calmed her racing heart.

Now that she was no longer Leo, she glanced down at the uniform she was still wearing. The outfit matched her other form perfectly, the white and green fabric hugged her body closely, but it wasn’t an ordinary fabric. It was amazingly durable and heat resistant. She didn’t have to worry about being cold during the winter or getting burned too terribly if she was in a flaming building. Nepeta would have to talk to Kanaya again to give her thanks for the new outfit and give her feedback as the designer had requested.

Nepeta pulled off her gloves and began to undress. Once she was out of the uniform, she glanced over to see what Equius had left out for her. A “Hero of Heart” t-shirt (she laughed at the sight of it, seeing as they had all been enraptured with the Sburb video game when they were in middle school and high school. Nepeta even remembered how excited she was to be a heart hero because of her matchmaking hobby.). Next to the shirt was a pair of jeans, and a green army style jacket.

The chill of the room began to make her shiver, so Nepeta stopped her stalling and quickly pulled the outfit on, making sure to slide her feet into the tennis shoes that were under the table.

With a sigh, she picked up and took a quick sip from the still steaming mug before she exited the room. Nepeta paused outside the door and glanced down both directions of the hallway. Knowing Equius, he was probably in his workshop, so she turned left and walked to the other side of the building, taking decent drinks from the mug every few feet.

There was only a single door once she reached the end of the corridor. The metal door was specially made by Equius himself, and the room it guarded was also made specifically for her friend’s unique work and needs. A scanner was set into the wall next to the door, and Nepeta reached up, placing her hand upon it. She could feel the hum of the device beneath her palm. A muted beep followed by a click from the door let her know it was now unlocked.

Nepeta pushed the door open and stepped into Equius’ workshop. Robotic parts and broken machine scraps were scattered around the room. Right in front of her stood a large computer set up- the screen was at least twice the size of Feferi’s HD flat screen, which was one of the larger TVs available to the consumer market. The screen was currently displaying a layout of the city, flagging the exact spots Nepeta has encountered other power bloods while a green line looped a smaller portion of the city, marking the patrol route she had taken that night.

There was a crash from the far corner of the room. Nepeta jumped, nearly dropping the now empty cup, and swiveled in the direction of the sudden noise. There stood Equius, hands gripping his workstation as he leaned over it, and it only took her a second to realize he was getting irritated.

“Equius,” Her voice rang out into the room. Nepeta watched him carefully as she stepped over the various technologies on the floor. Equius turned his head to look over his shoulder. The tall male released his grip on the metal table, Nepeta’s eyes glancing over the handprints now dented into its cool surface. She offered him a smile and placed her mug on the workstation. He turned to face her fully, and the redhead reached her arms around his torso to give him a hug. Equius didn’t return her friendly affection, but at least she felt him relax.

She released her hold of him and stood on her tiptoes to stretch her hand up. He watched her with a raised eyebrow as she gently papped his cheek. “Shush. Don’t break anything else today.”

He chuckled lightly. “I make no promises, Nepeta. Thank you.” He stepped away from her and made his way over to the computer. “Any reports for tonight?” He positioned his fingers so they hovered over the keyboard.

“No, nothing. Not even a scent of Aquarius or Capricorn. Neither of them have made a rampage in nearly six months,” Nepeta followed him over. There was a couch on the opposite side of the computer, tucked neatly into the corner. Nepeta smiled at it and draped herself over the plush cushions. She was feeling the beginnings of exhaustion and a catnap sounded purrfect.

“I have no doubts they will appear again, Nepeta. I request you still keep up your…” Equius turned to look at Nepeta. He stared at her for a moment as he realized she had already dozed off. He didn’t understand how she could fall asleep so quickly, but he guessed it was something that came with her other form.

Equius slowly shook his head and typed some notes into the computer. He pulled the quilt from the back of the couch and tossed it over Nepeta as she slept. They could talk later he supposed, and until then, he would go back to his current project.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I reread it, and it's the little things that make me smile." - Beta Kat
> 
> Chapter IV will be up next Friday!


	5. IV

Nepeta knew the moment she and Equius sat down for lunch that she’d have to bring up Cancer’s offer. She had stalled in doing so, mainly so she could mull over her own thoughts on it, but she had finally made her decision. She would accept his offer, even if it meant Equius would be angry with her. There were more pros than cons with forming an alliance with other power bloods, and truthfully, she would rather not go into a fight with Capricorn on her own again. Nepeta still remembered the last time she had met the purple-blooded maniac. Sometimes, when the memories surfaced, Nepeta could even feel the phantom pains of the blows he had struck.

“Nepeta,” Equius was seated at the table, already eating his salad while she pulled her reheated chicken from the microwave. Nepeta gave him a curious look as she set her plate on the table across from him. Her tea was probably steeped to the perfect taste by now- STRONG, just as Equius liked it, but not too strong that it’d be overwhelming in flavor.

She poured herself and Equius a cup.

“Nepeta,” Equius repeated her name and she purred a bit, acknowledging Equius. He smiled at the sound for a moment before his expression turned serious. “I wished to talk to you about what you said earlier this morning.”

“Which part? You didn’t break anything again, did you?” She started to cut up her meal but shot Equius a pointed look. He was starting to sweat at the accusation and excused himself to grab one of the hand towels hanging from the oven door. Nepeta rolled her eyes. She knew he broke something because it had woken her up with the aid of her stomach’s grumbling.

“I may have… had difficulties with one of the machines, but that is another discussion for later. I wished to speak to you about the concerns we both have with Capricorn.” Equius sat back down at the table, two extra towels now set beside his salad plate. Nepeta nodded and put her fork and knife down. “I believe the best preemptive measures we could take is to set up a new training system for you along with reviewing the video footage that I have managed to collect of Capricorn’s fights. It is ludicrous to think he will not return and also incredibly foolish to be unprepared.”

Nepeta nodded, “I do have an idea to add to that.” Equius peered at her through his glasses. She paused a moment to figure out the best way to word Cancer’s offer while he waited patiently. “I do agree with your suggestion, but I think that we should have more help. Last time he was around, the two of us alone couldn’t stop him.” She felt a chill run down her spine and gulped. Across the table, Equius hung his head down in shame. Even though they had both recovered physically, he still bore the weighted guilt of the trauma they suffered.

“I think… I think we need to join a team, an alliance with other power bloods so we can stand up against Capricorn together.”

The room fell silent. Equius raised his head again, and she could feel his gaze on her. Nepeta fought the urge to squirm. She raised her head and gave him the most confident expression she could muster. She was sure this was the best route for both of them to take. She had no doubts.

Finally… “And how do you suppose we seek out others. The only other ‘hero’” – he had always used the term loosely when it concerned Leo or other masked power bloods– “you frequently come in close contact with is that Cancer character.”

“He’s the one forming a team. And he invited Leo _and_ Sagittarius.”

Equius picked up one of the towels and dabbed at the perspiration on his forehead. “Fiddlesticks, excuse my language. Nepeta, we both agreed that event and horrendous spectacle would be an one time moment that would not be referred to again.”

“Equius!” Nepeta raised her hands up in a calming gesture. “I’m not saying you actually have to put on that ridiculous costume again.” She snorted at the mental image of what he threw on to be his Sagittarius outfit. It was just too funny!

“You could continue what you’ve been doing for me! Whoever else Cancer has called on for this team could train with us and maybe find ways to help you tame your abilities where I haven’t been able to.” Nepeta frowned. Equius still couldn’t control his strength without having to consciously think about his actions. His fits of rage and frustration still left a path of destruction at times and when _that_ happened, the most she could do is shush and pap him back into a clear minded state.

“Nepeta, your help has been more than adequate. You have willingly helped me, and continue to help me, more than anyone else would have been able.” He offered her a gap toothed smile that she returned. “Do you… absolutely believe this would be beneficial to us?”

“I do. I trust Cancer, and if something goes bad, we can back out!”

Equius nodded. “Very well. Please pass along our confirmation to Cancer. After lunch, I’d like to go over some of the various exercises we can add to your current training.”

She grinned and took a bite of her chicken.

\---

Nepeta calmly sat at a café that was in the plaza. Today she was supposed to meet Cancer, in this very plaza, at 1PM. Her stomach was twisting into knots over this fact, and she took a sip out of her tea in attempt to calm down. Not that it actually helped. There was a clock in the center of the plaza that towered over a small garden and trees. She still had ten minutes before she had to start her search.

What if he was already in the plaza? Surely she wouldn’t be the only one to turn up early? Her gaze scanned the crowd, not actually looking at anyone in particular. She singled out a couple sitting on one of the benches that was situated around the garden as they talked; gosh, they were cute! Nepeta smiled and turned to the sketchbook opened up to a blank page in front of her and immediately began to draw the outlines of what soon would be the couple.

She was just starting to add in the details when a shadow casted over her and the page. “Fuck, Nepeta. I always forget how good you are.” Nepeta’s heart leapt to her throat as she squealed and slammed her sketchbook shut. She looked up to see Karkat standing behind her, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, an equally startled expression on his face.

“Oh, Karkat!” Nepeta let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry.” She giggled in embarrassment. Her cheeks were pink. She couldn’t remember the last time someone actually snuck up on her like that.

“No. Don’t worry about it. It was my fault. Sorry I’m a dumb asshole who startled you,” He looked ready to say more, but he stopped himself. Nepeta smiled.

“It’s okay, Karkat. I should have been paying more attention anyway. What are you doing here?” She tilted her head, glancing at the clock. She only had a couple minutes until one.

Karkat looked over at the clock, too, and she watched as he racked his gaze across the crowd right after. He looked back at Nepeta. “I’m meeting someone here.”

“I am, too, catually! Are you looking for Terezi?” She smiled up at him. Karkat shook his head.

“No. I’m meeting a business partner. We’re meeting at one, so I actually need to go. Everyone is meeting up for lunch tomorrow at Hemera’s, right? Or did Ampora or Thollux bail out again?”

“Kanaya threatened them both, so everyone should be there!” Nepeta smiled. Karkat blinked.

“You know, Kanaya can be fucking terrifying when she’s mad. I don’t think I want to know what she said to them,” Karkat grimaced. “Although they both had it coming since they skipped out on the last two lunches.”

They both glanced at the clock again. It was finally one o’clock. “Shit. I gotta go Nep. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Karkat!”

Nepeta waved as Karkat walked away. She looked around the rest of the crowd and discretely shifted her eyes- just like she told Cancer she’d do in case he saw her first. He should be here by now. Her gaze wasn’t actually trained on anyone’s face, though. Instead, she glanced at every person’s pants legs and shoes. Cancer had given her a very specific description of what he'd be wearing on his feet.

A red, plaid sock on his left foot and a sock with cartoon crabs on his right.

The odd combination of foot wear made her snicker. Nepeta wondered if he bought the socks for himself of if they had been given to him by a friend or relative. Not that that mattered in the long run- all that mattered was that they find each other. She shook her head to rid her mind of the distracting thoughts and refocused her attention to scanning the crowd. It only took her a minute and a well timed parting in the crowd when she caught sight of the mismatched plaid and crab socks. There he was! Nepeta gasped and had to force herself to breath.

She shoved her stuff into her bag and threw it over her shoulder as she ran over. Nepeta wasn’t thinking by this point. She pushed past strangers, and when he was an arm's length away, Nepeta reached out her hand and grasped his arm, which jolted the dark haired man. He was the right height and structure. He was wearing the right mismatched socks.

_But_ …

“Cancer!” She exclaimed it just loud enough for him to hear without drawing any more attention to them.

_But_ … Hadn’t Karkat gone in this direction? The thought that he had been wearing this same jacket, the one he’s had since their first year in college, crossed her mind. The fabric in her hand was well worn from a few years of use.

Nepeta watched as he slowly turned around to face her and her eyes widened. Karkat’s red eyes looked ready to fall out of their sockets. She still had a strong grip on his sleeve, but neither noticed as they locked gazes. He was at a loss of words as she was at a loss of breath. Her eyes were still shifted, and as each second ticked by, she was could feel her control over her ability shrinking.

Even with the crowd around shuffling about their daily business, time stood still for Karkat and Nepeta. Finally, after what could have been eternity, he breathed out, “ _Leo_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, on April 1st, my computer crapped out on me and I lost about a quarter of chapter 7 and what I had started on chapter 8. How's that for an April Fool's? I've been set back a few days, but oh well.
> 
> Thank you everyone who has left kudos- I hope everyone who reads this continues to enjoy the story!


	6. V

The days were generally slow to begin when Nepeta woke up, more due to her reluctance to actually get out from beneath the warm confinements of her bed sheets than anything. But Pounce de Leon was always insistent on Nepeta getting up so the little ragdoll could get her own breakfast.

It was seven o’clock sharp when Nepeta rolled out of bed. Pounce had her tail happily up in the air and followed her mistress across the apartment and into the kitchen. She sat patiently as Nepeta poured the purebred’s special diet crunchies into a bowl. She laughed as she heard Pounce’s thunderous purring.

As soon as Pounce’s food was served, Nepeta stretched and padded off to get ready. She followed her usual routine: brush her teeth, take a shower, go eat breakfast, check her email for new freelance work, and then go run errands if need be.

When she walked back into the kitchen after her quick shower, Nepeta opened her cabinets with a frown. She knew Pounce was low on her diet food, but it looked like she would be going to more than one store. She was down to just a couple bags of earl grey, one box of chameowile, five English breakfast bags, and a few other assorted teas she kept a careful stock on. She opened another cabinet and scanned it, noting she was low on some of her canned foods- mainly the vegetables Equius insisted she ate even if she didn’t care for them that much.

She quickly made a list of all the items she’d need to buy at the store- especially her granolas, those were perfect for on the go- and grabbed an apple from the small basket she kept on her counter top. It’d make due for breakfast, Nepeta decided, as she walked over to one of the many baskets she kept her clothes in. Today she was supposed to meet everyone for lunch, so she’d have to dress just a tad bit nicer than usual.

She pulled out a fitted button down blouse and a pair of khaki shorts. That would do. She was ready to go out the door not five minutes later when she turned to give her apartment a final sweep- she had her wallet and cell phone and the grocery list was tucked neatly in her pocket. Nepeta’s gaze landed on her shipping wall, which would probably be updated after the lunch meet up. She bit her lip; eyes traveling to one ship that made her heart skip a beat.

Where once was her OTP of her and Karkat was now Leo and Cancer. Yesterday’s events came rushing back to the forefront of her mind. Oh gog. She made a beeline straight to the little section on the wall and wiped her hand against the chalk drawing, effectively smearing it.

Cancer was Karkat. How was it that when she thought she was falling in love with a new man, she was falling in love with him all over again? Not to mention she had been flirting so much as Leo while he was with Terezi… _Shit_. Nepeta could only hope he kept his two identities as separate as she did. She didn’t want to ruin one of her best friend’s relationships! She’d rather go through another beat down with Capricorn than ever hurt her friend!

She banged her head against the wall. If anything, the only thing about yesterday she should focus on was the information regarding the team formation. Nepeta would have to pass it to Equius after lunch. The first official meeting would be next week, and she had volunteered Equius’ building in the warehouse district. She bumped her head once more for good measure. With a quick kiss to Pounce’s head, she walked out the door.

 

\---

 

Grocery shopping never took that long. Nepeta only went in, picked out the things she needed, and would be checked out and happily on her way within fifteen minutes. That was a good thing, too, seeing as it was nearing 9:30 once she was on her way back home. But, one thing she always made sure to do after running errands was stop at the Beforeus News Stand, one of many strategically placed around Alternia City, that was only two blocks from her apartment and check for anything related to Power Bloods.

The manager of her preferred stand was an older gentleman named Ben. He was always kind and when he started to recognize her as a regular customer, Ben started to get to know her. Nepeta was glad to get to know him, too. His jokes and overall personality reminded her so much of her of one of her uncles, that it would be a lie to say he hadn’t become like family to her in the couple years since she had moved into the neighborhood.

“Well, howdy lil’ Nep. How’s this fine day treating you so far?” His casual southern drawl wasn’t too apparent, but it still stuck out like a sore thumb to Nepeta. She gave Ben a grin and set one of her heavier grocery bags on the counter that separated them.

“So far so good, Ben. How are you doing?” He hummed and reached behind him to retrieve a small stack of newsprint.

“Darn delivery boys are getting sloppy on their deliverin’ again, but no complaints otherwise,” he replied as he turned back to her. He slid the papers onto the counter next to her bags. Nepeta picked them up. Little post-it notes tabbed sections of the Beforeus News and small time tabloids that contained articles involving Power Bloods. “Looks like there are a few more articles today than normal, so I went through and marked ‘em all up for ya.”

“Thanks! I appurriciate that!” Nepeta set the papers back on the counter and pulled out her wallet. Ben simply shrugged and rang up the newspapers.

“It ain’t any problem at all, Nep. Gotta say, those there tabloids,” he motioned to the Dersite tabloids from the past two days. “Have been talking more and more about Rainbow Bloods as of late. ‘Specially those two heroes, Leo and Cancer, I think? Seems they’ve been helpin’ circulate the rumor of them being a thing.”

Nepeta shifted the newspapers so the Dersite tabloids were on top. There, right on the front cover was a picture of Leo, white hair, ears, and tail clear as day in her newest uniform, next to Cancer in his gray armored glory as they stood peculiarly close on a rooftop. Nepeta gulped. ‘ _Alternia City’s newest celebrity couple_!’ the headline practically screamed up at her amongst smaller headlines that were speculating the two heroes’ relationship, commenting on Leo’s new look, and other things Nepeta really didn’t care about.

“Yeah, looks like they could be a couple, but you know how the Dersite is. They’re all talk but no facts.”

Ben rubbed his chin and gave her a one-shoulder shrug. “Yeah, but sometimes there is truth behind their words.” Nepeta nodded, glancing at the clock that was inside the stand. Ben noticed her gaze and looked up to the clock, too. It was nearing 10AM- an hour and a half until her lunch meet. Ben cracked a grin at her and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Does my lil’ girl have a big date today?” Nepeta laughed and shook her head. Ben was just too silly sometimes! She picked up her purchases, carefully placing them into her grocery bag and got ready to head back to her apartment before her milk spoiled.

Just as she opened her mouth to reply though, a loud explosion rang out through the street, just a half a block down from the Beforeus News Stand. Nepeta’s hands shot to her ears as the sound waves rang in her ears and drowned out the rest of the city.

Her head shot in the direction of the explosion. Debris was littered throughout the street. Cars were upturned; one or two were even on fire. Unfortunate passersby that were too close had been knocked off their feet- she could only hope no one was dead… Her eyes were starting to tear up, causing Nepeta to blink rapidly. There was a tugging at her wrist, strong hands pulling with urgency. Nepeta turned to Ben, who was waving at her frantically, shooing her away from the explosion.

Nepeta let one of her hands drop from her ears so she could rub at her eyes- the dust was just getting worse! Her nose was starting to sting, and then it her. It wasn’t dust. _It was tear gas_.

She could feel it starting to irritate her eyes as her body fought it off with unshed tears. She erupted into a fit of sneezes as she did her best to pull her blouse up and over her nose and mouth. She did what she could to get Ben to do the same, which he did. He seemed to realize things were worse than just an explosion. The distant blaring of an alarm started to crescendo and Nepeta took note that she was regaining her hearing.

Ben stumbled out of the stand as his body racked with coughs- _oh gog, please don’t let him be allergic to the gas!_ Nepeta ran to him. She could hear the cries of other people around them, and her heart clenched as her throat tightened. She grasped Ben’s shoulders and looked around with wide eyes. It was blurry, but she could see people running frantically away from the source of the explosion.

She could just make out a dark figure walking out of the settling dust- right towards her and Ben and all the other confused citizens. Her heart was beating frantically and she immediately started to drag Ben down to the corner and onto the next street. Nepeta leaned him against a storefront and dropped her groceries next to him before running back.

Nepeta had to get people out of there. Something was going on, something she hadn’t seen before. She skidded in front of a mother and her young son, the two of whom were terrified as the mother did what she could to stop the boy from inhaling the gas. A man raced over to help, too, and Nepeta ushered them towards where she had left Ben.

She ran closer to the debris only to stop dead in her tracks as a man clad in a green suit appeared before her, gun in hand and aimed straight at her. He was exceedingly huge compared to her. A green gas mask shielded his face and a green and white hat with the number 14 adorned his head. Nepeta briefly entertained the thought of how the hat reminder her of a pool ball.

The man straightened up. Nepeta dropped the hand that held her blouse over her mouth. She wasn’t going to die. Her left foot started to slide back and she hunched her shoulders. The man’s finger lifted so it hovered over the trigger.

She started to shift and watched as the man suddenly tensed up. Nepeta straightened back up and jumped out of the man’s way as he fell to the ground. A resounding bang of a shot being fired rang out.

“Nepeta. Get the fuck out of here!” She spun towards the voice and stared in awe as her knight in gray armor stood where the gun-welding man had seconds before. She could practically feel Karkat’s glare through his visor.

“ _NOW_!” He barked at her. She reversed her shifting and turned abruptly on her heel. The area had been cleared of the conscious citizens by this point, but Nepeta returned her attention to Ben and prayed to any omnipotent being out there that he and Karkat would be okay.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say that Ben is not going to die. (Because that is one thing my betas kept asking over and over even after I said he wasn't.)
> 
> Chapter VI will be up next Friday! After that, the chapters will be longer, so updates will change from weekly to every other week.


	7. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say a quick thank you for one of my betas, Kat, because she is a nitpicker and incredibly helpful!

Nepeta’s heart was pounding against her ribcage. She sat numbly in the Emergency Room, head back against the leathery seat. The nurse at the desk had said Ben would be discharged in a couple hours, but even then, Nepeta sat there. Never had an attack been so close to home. Never had one of her friends been so close to death... She dropped her head into her hands and scrubbed the thought from her mind.

The image of the masked gunman surfaced instead. She closed her eyes and immersed herself into the memory. She’d have collect every detail she could while it was still fresh. The tear gas had been strongest around the explosion. The man in the green suit was at least six feet, but still shorter than Equius. His suit was professionally tailored. His mask was no ordinary mask, she thought. It was definitely a gasmask- the man would have been effected by the tear gas otherwise. It was so unique though; it must have been a custom job. That would help narrow the field of customers down.

There was something odd about the man though. The way he carried himself was like how she had seen one of Alternia City’s mobsters walk: confident, threatening, and with a purpose. But… also, when Nepeta began to shift before Karkat appeared, his smell. She had only caught a faint wisp of him. It was strange actually. He didn’t smell like any other person on the streets.

Nepeta paused her memory. Behind the man was the source of the explosion. The building itself had been a bank of some sorts. She opened her eyes halfway and stared at her groceries that lay discarded at her feet. It was a specialty bank, wasn’t it? Nepeta’s eyes widened as she realized it wasn’t a money bank but rather a _blood_ bank. Why on earth would a mobster want to destroy a blood bank?

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and Nepeta nearly skyrocketed out of her chair. She yanked it out with trembling hands and saw that Kanaya was calling her. The top of the screen told her it was 11:10. They were supposed to meet at Hemera’s ten minutes ago. Nepeta quickly tapped the answer key and lifted the phone to her ear. If she left right now, took a shortcut to her apartment to drop off the bags, then she could be at the restaurant in twenty minutes.

“Hello?” Nepeta was already on her feet, groceries in hand, and racing out the to the streets. It was six blocks to her apartment, but from there it was only four to Hemera’s.

“ _Nepeta, dear, where are you?_ ” Kanaya’s voice carried that motherly tone. Nepeta could hear chatter in the background- it sounded like they were seated already, which wouldn’t be surprising. She could picture everyone sitting at the table, a spot saved for her somewhere in the middle, just like always.

She didn’t answer for a moment, yelping a bit as she nearly ran into someone while dashing down the sidewalk. “Sorry, Kanaya. I… I was in the emergency room. I’m on my way now. Can you order Jane’s specialty for me?”

“ _The Emergency Room?!_ ” Nepeta winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. There was shuffling and Nepeta could hear a faint lull in conversation on the other end before questions were being fired in Kanaya’s direction. “ _Nepeta, why were you in the emergency room? What happened? Is everything alright? Equius, please be quiet!_ ”

Nepeta skidded to a halt at a crosswalk. “No. I’m fine. Did you hear about the explosion on West Avenue and Noir Street?”

“ _Yes. Oh no, please don’t tell me you were in that area?_ ”

“I was at Ben’s News Stand half a block down. I had to get him to the ER, but we’re both fine, Kanaya. I promise. Please tell Equius that, too. I can hear him asking for the phone.” Nepeta heard Kanaya passing on what was happening to those who were asking. The crosswalk light changed and Nepeta took off once more. “I’ll be at Hemera’s soon. I just need to run home first.”

There was a sigh from the other end. Nepeta could imagine Kanaya’s worried expression. “Do be careful, Nepeta dear. You said you wanted Jane’s specialty, yes?”

“Yeah. Thank you, Kanaya! I’ll see you soon! Bye.” Nepeta waited until Kanaya bid her own farewell before she hung up.

 

\---

 

Nepeta barely spent two minutes in her apartment. She had all but thrown the milk she bought in the fridge along with the couple other items that needed to be refrigerated before she raced to change her outfit. The dust covered blouse and shorts still had the lingering smell of tear gas on it, although Nepeta wasn’t sure if she could smell it simply because she was accidentally shifting or if it really was that pungent to a human’s nose.

She ended up throwing the clothes onto Pounce, who hissed at the assault and scampered over to the pillow pile. Nepeta tossed an apology to the white cat as she pulled on new attire- gray jeans and the only other semi-formal blouse she had. She stuffed her cellphone into one of her pockets and grabbed her wallet before she dashed back out the door.

Nepeta made it to Hemera’s in ten minutes, a feat that would have been more admirable to her if she wasn’t out of breath. This wouldn’t have happened if she was Leo, but she wasn’t Leo right now. She was Nepeta Leijon. And as Nepeta Leijon, she ran a hand through her hair in a vain attempt to make herself presentable once more. There were more tangles in her curly locks than there should have been- she’d have to get a haircut sometime this week to fix that. It was getting too long.

Opening the door to the restaurant, Nepeta took in the mouthwatering scents and beautiful décor that made up Hemera’s. It wasn’t one of those ridiculously upscale restaurants. It was a dress down type of place with a friendly atmosphere. Not to mention, Jane Crocker was the head chef here, which just made Hemera’s even better.

The lunch rush was just starting to pick up when Nepeta walked in. A hostess was helping the maître d sort out where the influx of customers would sit. Nepeta almost stopped to ask them where her friends were sitting when an uproar of laughter came from one of the back tables. Nepeta shook her head at her friends- she’d recognize Terezi’s crackle and Feferi’s bubbly laughter anywhere.

NepetaNepeta quickly stepped around the people waiting to be seated and made her way through the dinning room where she spotted her friends pretty quickly. They were an oddball group and stood out like a sore thumb. Three tables had been pushed together to fit the twelve of them, and as she got closer, she saw they were sitting in the usual line up of birthday order, a habit that had been picked up when they were all young children in grade school.

She didn’t know why she’d expect them to switch up the seating arrangement; then again, she supposed that would be suspicious or at the very least cause questions alongside an uproar from Sollux and Eridan. That was something no one wanted to deal with again.

Nepeta put on a grin as she scampered over to the table and cheerfully greeted everyone. She received various levels of enthusiasm as the others acknowledged her, from Aradia’s preppy “Hello!” to Eridan’s grumbling pared with a scowl. Nepeta made eye contact with Equius, who was on the opposite end of the table than her, and gave him the teensiest of nods. She’d tell him about what happened later.

Her heart pounded in her chest. It wasn’t beating erratically, but rather a constant thudding against her ribs that told her she was still alive and should probably keep breathing to stay that way. Nepeta took a calming breath.

“Hi Kanaya, sorry for worrying you,” she gave the taller woman an apologetic look as she walked over to her seat between Kanaya and Karkat. She only hesitated for a second as she looked to her right. “Hi, Karkat.”

He barely looked at her. “Hey, Nepeta.” Apparently his water was more intriguing than sharing a conversation. He swirled his straw around in the glass and made the ice cubes clink together.

Terezi looked around Kanaya, her red glasses sitting on top of her head. Nepeta could see she was sniffing the air and watched as the other brunette's nose wrinkled, brow knitting together. Terezi seemed mildly confused, but finally let her face relax. "Nepeta, why do you smell… bitter and like kerosene? Just how bad was that explosion?"

Nepeta frowned and pulled the edge of her sleeve to her nose and sniffed. She frowned, not able to smell much of anything. Whatever conversations had been going on paused as attention turned to Nepeta. Kanaya ended up rising out of her seat and stood before the redhead. She put a hand beneath and lifted Nepeta's head up to examine her. "Your eyes are red, dear. Maybe we should take you back to the emergency room?"

"No, no, no! I don't need medical help, really. There was a lot of debris and dust in the air. I guess the explosion caused a gas leak or something," Nepeta waved her hands in front of her and wiggled to get Kanaya to release her.

"Karkat looked up some reports on the explosion, but nothing about a gas leak was mentioned," Terezi didn't look entirely convinced. Kanaya relinquished her hold on Nepeta, although she didn't stop her examination- she lifted Nepeta's arms and turned them over carefully as she checked for possible injuries like a worried mother.

"It only happened about two hours ago, right? They could still be cleaning up and checking for damages," Nepeta countered. "The news wouldn't have an accurate report until this evening purrobably. Kanaya, I'm fine! Really! One of the nurses checked me when I got there with Ben." The last bit was a lie. Nepeta had fended off the nurse while another took Ben away.

Kanaya sighed and stepped back. The fashionista looked like she sided with Terezi, both unconvinced, but thankfully they dropped the topic. Nepeta looked over at Karkat, who was muttering something to Sollux- neither of them seemed to have been paying attention to the 'interrogation'.

"A-are you sure, uh, you're okay, Nepeta?" She turned and looked at Tavros. She smiled at him, and nodded.

"AC nods and purrs to let her friend know she is pawright." He smiled a bit and adjusted his wheelchair under the table.

"You knoww wwhat I wwant to knoww?" Eridan's wobbly voice caught everyone's attention. He smirked as he got most of the group's attention. "I want to knoww wwho the genius bomber is. Seems to me he could done a wwhole lot wworse if he tried a little harder."

"Eridan!" Feferi glared at her cousin and smacked him.

"Thhut up, fith-face," Sollux spoke up. He and Karkat were glaring at Eridan. "A lot of people could have been killed."

"And you see, that's the problem- no one wwas killed. Just a feww injuries. That's it!"

"Wow, can you get anymore genothidal, ED? I thwear it'th like you want the whole world dead or something!" Nepeta stopped listening to Eridan and Sollux by that point. She and everyone else had heard this argument a thousand times with hundred of different arguments.

Kanaya returned to her seat and Terezi sent Nepeta one last look. It seemed that the explosion story would be brought up again later. Nepeta wasn't too thrilled with the idea that she'd have to lie to her friend, but she'd worry about that when it came time to it. Nepeta pulled out her chair and settled into her seat.

"I ordered your lunch, Jane's specialty fish and pasta, dear," Kanaya patted Nepeta and looked over to the arguing boys, probably to intervene when she found an opening.  

“Nepeta, Nepeta!” Feferi called from the other side of the table. She leaned over her salad plate and had one of her characteristic shark-like grins on her face. Nepeta leaned forward to see around Kanaya.

“Equius was just telling us about what you two have been planning!” Nepeta cocked her head to the side. Feferi caught the look and motioned at Equius, who was now dabbing his forehead with one of his smaller hand towels. She rolled her eyes at him. “You two are refurbishing one of his dad’s old buildings, right?”

“It’s actually not just simply refurbishing it, Miss Peixes. As I was about to explain-”

“Equius, don’t be lame and spoil it!” Nepeta leaned further over the table and stuck her tongue out at him. He frowned at her childishness.

“Nepeta, I am not lame. I’m fine.“

“No,” she shot back. “Lame. No spoilers!”

“Nepeta, please,” He grimaced and reached down into what she could only assume was his backpack, and retrieved a new towel.

“No spoilers, Equius,” She leaned back into her seat once more only upon Kanaya’s gentle prompting.

“So we have to wade until you finish this project?” Feferi seemed disappointed and even pouted. Nepeta nodded and smiled brilliantly at her friend.

“We’ll be done soon! I pawmise!” Feferi giggled at the cat pun.

After that, conversations started to pick back up, Nepeta focusing her attention more on what was going on near Equius, Feferi, and Terezi’s end than her own. Beneath the table, she was curling and uncurling her toes anxiously- she wanted so badly to ask Karkat about what had happened after she left, but at the same time- oh gog. She stretched her arm a bit and ended up bumping Karkat with her elbow.

She swiveled around to apologize, but Karkat wasn’t even looking at Nepeta. He shifted in his seat- away from her. Nepeta didn’t notice her shoulders slump. Now he was making things even more awkward. She averted her gaze and turned back around as she tucked her arms closer to her side.

They didn’t have to wait much longer for lunch to be served. Nepeta thanked Kanaya for ordering her meal, and promptly dug in. She practically purred as she shoveled the food into her mouth- Jane’s cooking was the best there was!

An hour passed before they all got up to leave, their respective bills paid and a thoughtful tip left for the server; Nepeta gulped and reached out to tug on Karkat’s sleeve. He looked at her with a frown. She stuttered for a second. In the corner of her eye, she could see Equius waiting for her. She dropped her hand back to her side and turned around.

“Thanks.”

Karkat barely heard her as she walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finals week coming up, so from here on, chapters will be every other week. Chapter XII is the longest chapter to date, though, so there will be plenty to read!
> 
> Thank you again for your patience!


	8. VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thank you to Kat and Ortsys!

Her eyes were closed as she listened to the gentle hum and occasional shifting of gears along the aimless chatter of the other bus occupants. The heel of her foot was tapping rapidly against the floor, and Nepeta was sure she was irritating the man next to her – if his constant exasperated huffs were anything to go by.

Finally, after the bus turned left at an intersection, Nepeta opened her eyes and stood up. She had to readjust her tote bag as she reached up on her tiptoes to one of the hanging handlebars. She was almost there, but her tapping heel picked up pace. She bit her lip and stared intently out the window. When Lotus grocers came into view, Nepeta tugged on the cord to alert the bus driver that this was her stop.

The moment her feet were once again on the familiar cement of the sidewalk, Nepeta took off down the street. She was only two blocks away from the particular building she and Equius had been renovating over the past year, but it seemed to be miles away. Nepeta chewed her lip as she got closer to the building- she really, _really_ wished she hadn’t decided to forgo a trip to the bathroom before she left her apartment. Honestly, it wouldn’t have been a problem if it weren’t for the darn traffic!

Nepeta squeaked when the building’s entrance came into view. She practically flew up the couple of steps to the door and threw it open in her rush inside. The lobby had yet to be fully furnished, as it only had a few chairs and a short coffee table. She continued through, speeding down a hallway and into another large room that acted as a communications center- similar to the mounted computers in Equius’ workshop. She hazardously tossed her tote bag to the floor near a table, not at all noticing Equius at the central command computer or Karkat staring dumbfounded at her; Nepeta quickly u-turned back down the hallway and to the bathroom.

“What the hell?” Karkat stared after Nepeta as he set a stack of papers on the table. He leaned over and glanced at her tote bag, which some of its contents had fallen out of. Equius barely acknowledged the redhead’s appearance and subsequent abscond.

“She likely underestimated the time it would take to ride the bus here,” Equius typed a few more lines into whatever program he was working. His fingers hovered over the keyboard. “Again.”

Karkat just shook his head and scooped Nepeta’s things up, noting that most most of the items were art supplies. As he set the tote bag onto the table, he realized that her tablet was in the bag as well. Karkat pulled it out and inspected for any damages the concrete floor might have done to it.

Finding nothing, he put it back in its rightful spot and returned his attention to the stack of papers.  There were seven packets all together, one for him and six for the others that were due to arrive within the next fifteen minutes.  He shuffled through them, checking for the umpteenth time that everything was included within the staple bindings.

Karkat nodded to himself and started placing them one by one in front of the empty seats that surrounded the table.  He stepped back and looked at the table for one moment longer. That was probably the best he could do for now, he reassured himself before he turned and walked over to where Equius was.

The screen in front of Equius was dimmed, but Karkat could clearly see it was a layout for some sort of enclosed room with various obstacles. He crossed his arms and knitted his brow together as he tried to read the small notes in boxes that accompanied certain figures.

Karkat relaxed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Equius, what exactly is that?”

Equius continued tapping away at his keyboard and Karkat wasn’t sure if he had been heard. He was about to open his mouth to ask again, only to have the larger man pause to adjust his ever-present sunglasses. “It is one of the stages for our training room. This particular layout is made for Nepeta.”

He pointed- not daring to actually lay his finger on the screen- at a group of rectangular figures. “She needs to work on evasion maneuvers, so in Quadrant C, there is a small maze Nepeta will need to work her way through while avoiding laser sensors.”

Karkat was mildly impressed as he leaned over Equius’s shoulder. Just enough so that he’d be able to read the text boxes. “How long will this take you to build?”

Equius grunted and shifted away from Karkat as his personal space was invaded. “It will not take long. I already constructed the robots that will help to assemble and dissemble each stage.” He closed the layout to a data chart that had Nepeta’s Leo stats. “Once you are done with your…. introductions and contracts. I request at least an hour or two more of everyone’s time so that I may fill out similar charts.”

Karkat straightened up. “Yeah, sure. I don’t have a problem with that. How are you going to measure us though? A couple of the people coming are lower castes and have those-” he paused and waved one of his arms around. “Psionic powers.

The two were quiet for a moment as Equius mulled that over. Karkat made a face as he noticed some sweat starting to bead on his forehead. “This… will require a different set of examinations than I was expecting.”

“Hi Equius!” Nepeta’s voice chirped from behind. The two boys turned to see the redhead digging through her tote bag. She glanced up at them. “Hi Karkat.”

Equius greeted Nepeta as he stood up. Karkat backed up a few steps. The larger male nodded down at the two before excusing himself to retrieve something Karkat didn’t catch. Karkat watched Equius leave from the corner of his eyes- his attention on Nepeta now. He frowned. They needed to talk. Karkat knew that, but what would he say. His feelings had always been jumbled around Leo. And now that he knew Leo was Nepeta…

Karkat shook his head. There were other things he needed to focus on now. He grumbled to himself as he strode over to the table. Nepeta had pulled out her tablet and set it down next to one of the contracts. She didn’t notice Karkat’s approach. She did, however, hear his quick intake of breath. She looked up and shrieked.

Karkat felt a chill go down his spine as the air around him got colder. He sucked in a breath and not a second later than he did, a terrified look crossed Nepeta’s face as she turned to him. He jumped at her shriek, only to let out a high-pitched yelp of his own as he felt someone exhale a cool breath on the back of his neck.

He leapt forward and swiveled around as his heart thundered against his ribcage. Before Karkat stood, or rather floated, a dark silhouette of a woman. He could make out blank white eyes- no irises or pupils. Just whiteness. Long tendrils of inky black hair moved behind her as if caught in a breeze. Her worn and torn dress just accentuated the look and feel of death personified.

Karkat clutched at his sweater and forced himself to take a few ragged breaths. His wide eyes narrowed into a glare at the woman. “Jesus Christ, Aradia! Couldn’t you have just walked into the damn building like a normal person? Is it really that difficult?”

The woman stared at him a second longer as she drifted down, feet now touching the ground. A smile slowly graced her face as a pinkish hue returned to her skin. She blinked slowly, her eyes once more having dark brown irises that nearly blended in with her pupils. Aradia grinned at Karkat and giggled

“But Karkat, it’s much more fun when I get to scare my friends! And it’s faster to travel as a ghost than taking the subway!” She brushed her fingers through some of her unruly long hair to try and tidy it up a bit.

“Yeah. Sure. You just like to give people heart attacks. Note taken,” Karkat crossed his arms, glare melting into a scowl. “While you’re at it, would you like to stop my pulse altogether?”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Karkat!” Aradia shushed him. He raised an eyebrow. “That’s not part of my job! I’m just here to make sure no one meets an untimely death!”

She bent down and looked under the table, her gaze meeting Nepeta’s. “Hey Nep! You can come out- I like your ears, by the way!” Aradia’s grin widened and righted herself as Nepeta crawled out from beneath the table. She had shifted partially- hair white, cat ears perked in Aradia’s direction. Nepeta rubbed at her eyes in attempt to shift them back to normal. It didn’t work, and she didn’t notice her tail causing her pants to slide down her waist until Aradia touched it.

“Oh wow, your fur really is as soft as it looks!” Nepeta whipped her tail out of Aradia’s grasp, gentle as it may have been. No one touched her tail. She caught herself before she hissed.

“Please do not touch the tail, “ Nepeta’s heart was still racing and she gave up trying to revert to her normal self. “Wait. Aradia? You’re Aries?”

“Yep! The one and only!” The dark haired girl curtsied, her ever-present grin turning to a modest smile. “I’m so happy we can finally talk about our blood and gifts! I’ve known about everyone for so long and the time is finally coming!”

Karkat was grumbling while Nepeta tried to adjust her pants so they wouldn’t slip any lower. It took her a moment to process what the dark haired woman said.

“Um, Aradia… How long have you known about us being power bloods?” Nepeta reached up and brushed her bangs back and out of her face. It was distracting seeing as she probably wasn’t going to shift back until Equius returned.

“Oh, well, you know. Since I died back in middle school. All the ghosts have been talking to me about everyone! Especially after I came back to life. It’s actually kind of funny! Basic time theories don’t actually apply to ghosts or any spirits of the undead!” Aradia was bouncing on her heels. “They’ve been telling me about all sorts of things that will happen and what we’re going to do!”

Aradia was still grinning before she stopped moving for a second. “They’ve never told me exactly when things are going to happen though.” It sounded like an afterthought. “But that’s okay! I don’t want any spoilers to people dying and stuff! Where’s the fun in that?”

“Can we not talk about people dying, Aradia?” A voice called from the hallway before Karkat or Nepeta had the chance to respond to Aradia’s rhetorical question. The three of them turned to the source in time to see Sollux and Tavros arriving. The two seemed equally surprised as Nepeta at the current group.

“NP, you’re a rainbow blood, too?” Sollux raised an eyebrow, eyes hidden behind his red and blue glasses. Nepeta’s tail flicked in annoyance. Aradia crossed her arms and sent Sollux a look.

“Sollux, we’ve been over this! ‘Rainbow blood’ is a derogatory term for us on the hemospectrum.” He merely waved her off and trudged over to the table, plucking one of the contracts off of it.

“Sollux, put that down. You can look over it with the others once everyone is here!” Karkat marched around the table and yanked the papers from the bispecled male.

“Wow, KK. Rude,” Sollux scowled at him. “I could have gotten a paper cut or thomething.”

“Cry me a river, Thollux,” Karkat rolled his eyes. “I’m going to read through these-“ he shook the papers in front of Sollux’s face- “with everyone in a minute.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sollux turned and looked around. He let out a low whistle the moment he spotted the command system Equius had been at minutes before. “That is one thweet thet up.” He strode away from Karkat and the table- intent on looking over the computers before the meeting officially started.

Karkat just muttered to himself and placed the papers back down on the table. Nepeta and Aradia had started chatting, something about the building and some of it’s features.

Maybe he’d ask Nepeta to give everyone a tour of it later.

“Uh, hey, Karkat,” Tavros’ voice was soft but audible. He turned to his friend who was looking up at him.

“Hey, Tavros,” Karkat nodded in greeting. “You get here alright?”

“That’s actually, uh, what I kind of wanted to talk to you about,” He hesitated. “You see, I was out there for a few minutes, just, well, sitting there because of the steps. Sollux had to use his powers help me.”

“Oh shit. Sorry about that, Tav,” Karkat saw Equius return to the room from the corner of his eye. He gestured to him with his thumb. “I’ll talk to Equius and see if we can get you a ramp built or something.”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Tavros smiled gratefully before he wheeled himself over to Aradia. Nepeta had excused herself and was now at Equius’ side as he talked to Sollux about the equipment. Karkat looked over everyone. If he had told himself a month ago that all the PBs that he was acquainted with were his friends, he’d have laughed his ass off and called himself a dumbass because he would have known if his friends were on the hemospectrum or not.

Honestly, as much as a shock as it had been to find out his friends’ secrets, he was glad it was them. There was already trust built up between everyone from years of friendship. A sense of dread washed over him for the umpteenth time this week- these were his friends. If something happened to them because of what they were starting…

“Hello!” The last of their team had arrived. Karkat switched his focus from those darker thoughts to the blonde girl who had skipped into the room. Feferi wore a face-splitting grin, her sharp teeth bared nonthreatenly at those in the room. She covered her mouth in a gasp as she took in the room’s occupants.

“Feferi!” Nepeta jumped and immediately ran across the room and tackle pounced her to the ground. Both girls were laughing

“Nepeta! Or should I say Leo right now?” Feferi questioned and tapped one of Nepeta’s ears. It twitched sideways. Feferi snickered and poked it again, getting the reaction a second time. On her third attempt, Nepeta smacked the other girl’s hand away from her ears and stuck out her tongue.

“Feferi!” Nepeta jumped and immediately ran across the room and tackle pounced her to the ground. Both girls were laughing.

“Nepeta! Or should I say Leo right now?” Feferi questioned and tapped one of Nepeta’s ears. It twitched sideways. Feferi snickered and poked it again to get the reaction a second time. On her third attempt, Nepeta smacked the other girl’s hand away from her ears and stuck out her tongue.

“Okay. Since all you glubbering assholes are here, let’s get this meeting started,” Karkat shouted. Nepeta stood and helped Feferi to her feet. Equius and Sollux made their way from the computers as Aradia pulled out a seat and plopped herself down in it.

Karkat stood at the head of the table. He watched as Nepeta sat between Equius and Feferi on his right and Tavros situated himself to Karkat’s left so he and Aradia were next to each other- bringing an end to whatever conversation they had been having. Sollux nodded to Feferi as he slouched into his seat.

Karkat picked up the contract before him. “First thing on this agenda is to get through this contract. Basic gist is we don’t go blabbing our mouths to the media, everyone is equal, no health benefits. Sorry. You have to rely on your street-self employer for that.”

 

\---

 

Nearly an hour later, Karkat had covered the first four pages, front and back, of the contracts. He was used to giving speeches and presentations, but when it came to the legalities of things, he’d rather have left it to Terezi.

“Before we go any further,” Karkat rubbed his forehead and looked at his friends. “Do you have any questions?”

A hand shot up. Karkat looked over to Feferi. She had one of her scarily large grins threatening to split her face in half. He raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to go ahead.

“What’s our team name going to be?” Feferi bounced a bit in her seat. “I have a few suggestions if you hadn’t thought of one!”

“Okay, yeah. Fuck no. We aren’t going to have a team name because it would end up being something absolutely ridiculous like ‘Team Adorabloodthirsty’. We don’t need to come up with anything because you know the damned tabloids will have that covered for us. I’m not going to go to their office and say, ‘Hey, sorry, but that’s not actually our team name. We’re Team Adorabloodthirsty. Need me to write it down for you? I’ll just send our official press release statements to you!‘ if we don’t like what they end up calling us,” Karkat slapped his contract down onto the table. “Short answer: NO.”

“Well, I like that name. I’m totally adorabloodthirsty, if you haven’t noticed, Karkat!” Nepeta spoke up.

“Me, too!” Aradia chimed in. The girls grinned at each other. “Wasn’t that our old sburb session’s group name, Karkat?”

“What?” Karkat’s eyes widened and he sputtered. “No, it wasn’t!”

“Yes it was,” Sollux crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “In that case, I vote to call ourselves Team Adorabloodthirsty.”

“I second the motion!” Aradia chirped. “All in favor say ‘aye’!”

“Aye!” Tavros, Nepeta, and Feferi. Karkat scowled.

Nepeta elbowed Equius, looking at him expectantly. He simply frowned, “I see no need to add onto this ridiculous conversation. There is no need for us to have a team name. As Mister Vantas said, the tabloids will very well give us a name once they catch wind of this alliance.”

“Equius, you’re being a party-pooper again,” Nepeta crossed her arms.

“He’s being the only reasonable one,” Karkat corrected her. “How about we just forget the whole team name thing and just get through the rest of the damned contract?”

He grumbled as everyone laughed.

\---

It didn’t take much longer for them to go through the last four pages of the contract.

Karkat took a breath as he finished going over the last few clauses of the legalities. Finally, he put the papers down and looked around the table. “If this sounds good to you, Just sign your souls away on pages one, six, and twelve.”

“Hey, Carpcatfish,” Feferi leaned forward and stared at Karkat. “You don’t happen to have a pen do you?”

Karkat paused, a drawn out “uhh” escaping him. “I’ve got pens!” Nepeta’s voice was muffled and everyone’s attention turned to her as she sifted through her bag. With a triumphant grin, Nepeta pulled out eight pens of various colors, which she tossed onto the table.

The group shrugged and began to reach towards the closest pen only to be halted as Feferi snatched the fuchsia pen that was in front of Tavros. “I call my blood color!”

Aradia snorted and reached out for the dark red pen that was near Equius. “Maroon!”

“Olive!” Nepeta swiped the green pen Sollux had just picked up.

“Theriouthly, NP?” He rolled his eyes at Nepeta and instead stood so he could reach the yellow pen that was near Karkat.

Aradia passed Tavros the orange pen that was just out of his reach, and Equius dabbed his forehead with one of the towels he had brought to the table. “Here mew go, Equius!” Nepeta smiled up at him as she carefully placed the blue pen in his hand.

“Thank you, Nepeta.”

Karkat, who had refrained from grabbing a pen just yet, scowled at them. “Fuck you all.” He reached out and grabbed the black pen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The two-week update schedule will continue, but with that, the chapters will be longer! Thank you again for your patience!


	9. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, nearly a month later, I finally post the next chapter. I am very sorry for the wait! Finals week was a bit of a mess, and then I was knocked off my writing game for nearly two weeks due to being sick. I hope this chapter will make it up to everyone- and it's a long one coming in at over 11,000 words! Kat, my beta, asked me why I just didn't split it in to two, but, y'all will see why when you read.
> 
> Thank you as always and enjoy!

The screen cast a pale blue glow across his face. Equius’ sunglasses were not obscuring his face for once as he narrowed his eyes at the screen, concentrating on each line of code to figure out where he had slipped up. Programming robots was a lot simpler than trying to create a code to slip past the government’s multilayered firewalls. How was he supposed to access the data they had on others like him, Nepeta, and the rest of the newly formed team if he couldn’t even find the errors in one little code- FIDDLESTICKS.

 

Equius brought his fists down on the table, the bang resounding in the command room. He took a deep, shaky breath. He needed to calm down, Equius realized as he chanced a glance towards his hands. Thankfully he had set up reinforced metal over this particular section of computers. No dents were made with this outburst.

 

Inhale. Count to ten. Exhale. Repeat.

 

Relaxing his hands, Equius laid his palms down onto the counter and closed his eyes. He wouldn’t get anywhere if he let simple errors get to him. All he had to do was take a break and look at the code again later. He couldn’t lose control over something like this. Not again.

 

One more deep breath in…. and out. He opened his eyes and scowled at the monitor in front of him that seemed to be tantalizing him. He lifted his hands up and hovered them above the keyboard once more, only to hesitate as frustration set in once more.

 

“Fuck,” he grumbled before pushing away from the station. The chair he sat in rolled back a few feet, and Equius let himself lean back and just rest. He refused to let any thoughts about the code enter his head as he instead looked up at the air ducts that poked into the room from above.

 

The gentle hum of the computers and the low sound of the air conditioner kicking to life were the only noises in the room aside from his steady breaths. He relished this moment of peace. He didn’t have to worry about Nepeta being out and risking her life for ungrateful  idol bloods , and he didn’t have his father breathing down his neck about this design or that contractor.

 

Down the hall, Equius heard a door open and close. He exhaled through his nose and let his eyes drift over to the hallway the footsteps were echoing from. Sollux walked into the room, momentarily looking surprised (though that look lasted all of two seconds), and raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Equius.

 

“You okay over there, big guy?” Sollux walked over to a computer two down from the one Equius had been at and dropped the messenger bag he had slung over his shoulder to the floor.

Equius merely snorted and closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Sollux shook his head and slouched into his chair, immediately booting up the system.

 

A steady silence fell between them. Equius listened to the fans starting up with the computer as a single note crescendoed as the computer returned to life. It was a familiar sound to both of the men and had a calming effect over them.

 

Listening to the beginnings of Sollux’s typing- likely logging into the system and getting past the numerous security features that had been precautiously set up- Equius opened his eyes and sat up. The hand that had been pinching the bridge of his nose dropped down to where he had hung his sunglasses on his shirt.

 

He glanced over at Sollux, who was now in the system and pulling up the data files Equius had been building for the past two years. He frowned. As much as he hated to admit it, thanks to this new “team”, he had more resources and assistance available.

 

Taking a deep breath, Equius pulled his chair back up to his station and turned to fully face Sollux.

 

“I… don’t suppose it would be too much trouble to ask you to assist me with this program?”

 

Sollux flinched in his seat, having been too absorbed in the training curriculums Equius was designing for the team. He turned his head to the left and looked over his glasses at Equius.

 

“Dependth on the program.”

 

Equius shifted in his seat. Technically, if the program didn’t work, it would likely lead to everyone’s capture and subsequent detainment in the rumored testing facilities that the government had set up for power bloods. But…. if it worked and weaseled into the databases without detection…

 

“I’m hacking into the Cognatus Facultas Advancement Agency. I have heard that they have files we could use,” Equius watched as Sollux’s expression turned thoughtful. Sollux turned his chair to face him as he crossed his arms.

 

“I have been working with the city’s databatheth and firewalls for about a year. What maketh you think I could hack into a  federal government agenthy’th databathe- without repercuthionth?”

 

Equius felt the sweat beading on his forehead. “So, you’re saying it would be impossible?”

 

Sollux raised an eyebrow again. “I never thaid that.”

 

He grinned and pulled out his laptop from the messenger bag. “Now scoot over and thow me what you have for the code."

 

\---

  
  


The sun was still high in the sky as Feferi walked down the not so busy sidewalk. Her meeting with the aquarium staff had not only gone well, but actually let out early! Which was just so  exciting ! That meant she would have more time to further explore the warehouse- or whatever the team Adorabloodthirsty building was.

 

She walked with a skip to her step, a small gym bag slung over her shoulder, and a grin on her face. What Feferi failed to notice though was the figure sliding out of the alleyway just up ahead of her on the right. The stranger rolled their shoulders and cracked their neck. It wasn’t until they looked up and stepped right in front of Feferi that the girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

 

“Oh my glub!” Feferi took a deep breath, a hand on her chest as her heart raced. “Aradia!”

 

Aradia lifted the corners of her mouth in a sort of half smile. There were dark bags beneath her eyes, and she seemed less than her normal self. Feferi frowned.

  
“Are you alright, Aradia?”

 

Aradia hummed and started down the sidewalk. Feferi stood in her place for a second before jogging to catch up. “I’m fine. Just… tired.”

 

Feferi tilted her head and gave a small nod. “You work at a university, right? Have you been staying up late for research or somefin?”

 

“Something like that,” Aradia reached up and curled a strand of her hair around her index finger.

 

“Whale, maybe you could take a nap before the demo Karkrab has planned for us!” Feferi beamed down at the shorter girl.

 

Aradia’s lip quirked up. “The idea is a nice thought, but this unfortunately isn’t something that a simple nap could remedy. In fact, it would possibly worsen my current predicament, but nonetheless, I appreciate your suggestion.”

 

“‘Worsen your current predicament’? I know we aren’t the closest of friends, but if there’s somefin weighing you down, I would gladly listen!”

 

Aradia nodded, “Thank you, Feferi.” The blonde gave her a toothy grin.

 

They walked the rest of the block in silence, Feferi having pulled out her phone while Aradia just looked around the not-so-busy street. They soon came up to the corner and turned onto the street that was the ‘offishal’ marker for the warehouse district when...

 

“Oh!” Both girls looked at the person not even five storefronts down from them.

 

\---

 

“Terezi, I’m fine. Really!” Nepeta groaned. Her friend had finally called her out on what she had told everyone about the explosion- which had been nearly three weeks ago.

 

“ And I got a hold of the real reports, Nepeta. There wasn’t a gas leak so much as there had been tear gas,” Terezi shot back at her. The redhead was silently cursing herself for having a best friend in law school. The woman was a natural interrogator.

 

Nepeta paused for a moment.

 

“You know I couldn’t tell Kanaya that I went back towards the explosion to try and help! She’d have sent me right back to the hospital, even if I was okay,” Nepeta mentally cheered at the logic behind her rebuttal. She heard her friend’s chuckle on the other end of the line.

 

“ Yeah, I guess that’s true. Kanaya is too fussy sometimes ,” Terezi seemed to accept that, which Nepeta had hoped for. Maybe now she would stop and they could go back to normal topics like-

 

“ So, did you run into that gray hero Cancer? ”

 

Nepeta nearly tripped over her own two feet. She stuttered at the sudden question that seemed to come out of nowhere.

 

“What?”

 

“ You heard me. Every news source knows he was there, and if you were trying to help people get away from the tear gas like you say, then you probably ran into him. ”

 

“I may have seen him, Terezi, but it’s not like he ran to my aid or anything. That morning is kind of a purr-  blur- for me.”

 

“ Was he handsome? ”

 

Nepeta stopped walking and let her mouth drop. “He wears a fucking helmet that covers most of his face. How the hell would I know?”

 

“ Language, Nepeta ,” She heard Terezi cluck her tongue. “ So, what do you think of the guy, anyway. I know you’ve always liked those power blooded people. ”

 

“Well, I guess he’s not a bad guy purr say, and he doesn’t go flaunting his color like most vigilante Power Bloods. Honestly, Aradia would probably know more than I do.”

 

“Know more about what?”

 

Nepeta shrieked and nearly dropped her phone.

 

“ Nepeta?! What happened? ”

 

She took a couple deep breaths before turning around. Feferi was trying to cover her laughing while Aradia at least offered a sheepish grin.

 

“Apparently Aradia is a little devil. Speak of her and she shall appear and scare you,” Nepeta huffed.

 

Terezi crackled from the other end of the line. “ Maybe I should try that sometime, but I doubt she could sneak up on me! ”   


Nepeta blew a raspberry into the microphone and pulled the phone away from her ear. Feferi and Aradia watched as the redhead pressed a button on the touch screen Terezi’s snickering came through as Nepeta held the phone between the three of them- the phone now on speaker.

 

“Hi Terezi, how are you?” Aradia leaned closer to the outstretched phone.

 

“ Hey Aradia ,” Terezi was still snickering. “ I’m doing fantastic. I was just preparing for Miss Rotten Blueberry’s court case while drilling Miss Catnip .”

 

Feferi tilted her head as she glanced between the phone and Nepeta. “Shouldn’t you be focusing on your court case?”

 

“ You’re there, too, Miss Fuchsia Kalamari?” Terezi’s snickering quieted and she actually sounded surprised. “Who’s going to come up next? Gamzee? ”

 

“Nope, it’s just Aradia and Feferi,” Nepeta said.

“ Better be! I’ll finish questioning you later, Miss Leijon. Back to Miss Fuchsia Kalamari’s question- it’s called multitasking! ”

 

\---

 

Equius cracked his knuckles before he straightened up in his chair. Sollux was still leaning towards the screen, but pulled away and flopped back into the seat after a few more moments.

 

The code for the program was finally complete, and apparently Sollux had been mildly impressed with what Equius had built on his own.

 

“Alright, yeah,” Sollux finally spoke up and murmured something to himself. He then moved his chair back to his station. “You thould be good to go, but we’ll to a tetht later. Better thafe than thorry.”

 

Equius nodded and stood from his chair. “Yes. That would be a wise decision. Thank you for your assistance, Mister Captor.”

 

“Theriouthly, dude?” Sollux glanced over his shoulder. “We’ve known each other thinth like the third grade. Just call me Thollux.”

 

“Err,” Equius tensed a bit and stared at the other man for a moment before nodding. Sweat was beading on his forehead again. “Very well... Sollux. Thank you again.”

 

“Thure, thure. No problem,” Sollux waved him off.

 

“If you’ll excuse me then,” Equius pushed his chair so that it was under his computer station and out of the way. Turning around, he began to exit the room to head to his secondary technology lab to fix up a few of the robots that would be used for the training session later that afternoon.

 

He only made it into the main hallway when Aradia passed him. She offered him a small smile in greeting. Equius nodded in response before hustling to his lab finding that suddenly he urgently needed a towel.

 

Aradia on the other hand quietly made her way into the room Equius had just left. Sollux looks like he’s concentrating on something, she thought as she walked over to him.

 

She didn’t greet Sollux, instead she took a near by chair and rolled it up next to him. She promptly sat down and watched.

 

Sollux didn’t look up from the computer as Aradia sat down in the seat next to him. The dim glow cast shadows across her face as she leaned in and watched as he typed line after line of code. He didn’t have to look at her face- her posture, slumped shoulders, the way she was slightly curled in on herself, told him all he needed to know.

 

“‘Thup, Aradia?”

 

“Nothing,” she murmured. He grunted.

 

“AA, I theriously doubt that it’th ‘nothing’. Tho, what’th up?”

 

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with, Sollux,” she growled, wrinkled her nose as her gaze turned bitter.

 

“Wow, jeeth, Aradia, I wath jutht trying to help. You know- have one of those feelings jamth you made uth have back in the day, but I’ll thut up.”

 

He returned to his code, but still glanced at Aradia every few minutes. It was a tense silence. Beside him, he could hear Aradia grumbling something under her breath as a hand went up pinch the bridge of her nose. Another few moments passed before he heard a deep sigh. Her body slumped down the chair like a ragdoll.

 

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just… The spirits have been incredibly active this past week and I keep dreaming about this demon and…. I’ve seen dead people, Sollux.”

 

“You alwayth thee dead people.”

 

Aradia smacked him.

 

“I’m not talking about ghosts or spirits this time. I mean I have been dreaming of brutally murdered people. I died once Sollux, death doesn’t faze me, but what I’ve seen actually makes me nervous. I’ve never seen so much blood or even bodies that have been mutilated to the extent that  they keep showing me.”

 

Sollux stopped typing, his hands resting on the keyboard. “Are any of us in those dreams?”

 

She didn’t say a word. Sollux turned his chair and looked at her. Aradia was looking down, chewing on her bottom lip. He felt his stomach drop.

 

“Were any of us dead?”

 

She shook her head. “None of us are supposed to die right now.”

 

“Right now? Damn, I thought I’d get to live forever, or be like Thuperman or Captain America- come back from death ready to kick some more atth.”

 

That earned a snort from Aradia. “As far as I know, none of have timeline altering abilities, Sollux.”

 

He looked at her, removing his dual-colored glasses, and looked at her in mock surprise, “What? Damn, tho we aren’t part of the multiverth or anything?”

 

“Oh, I never said anything to disprove  that ,” she looked up finally, and she was giving him one of those smirks where her eyes were narrowed in that way that she just absolutely knew something he never would. He rolled his eyes and chuckled. After a moment or two, she joined with him, their light laughter echoing in the control room.

  
  
  
  


\---

 

Tavros frowned as he was once again in this predicament: stuck on the sidewalk due to the obstacle of stairs. And it seems that no one had bothered to place down the steel sheet of metal Equius brought out specifically for Tavros to use until that contractor comes to add a ramp.

 

He sighed, defeated, and sent one longing glance at the metal sheet before he reached towards his pocket in order to extract his phone. Equius would be the most likely to answer, even if he would be the most curt.

 

“Hey, Tavros,” a voice called from his right. He looked and thanked whatever deity was watching out for him. Karkat ran a hand through his hair as he stopped next to Tavros, his gaze falling on the obvious problem. “Those dimwits forgot to drop it for you, huh?”

 

“I don’t suppose you could, uh, help me, Karkat?”

 

“No, dipshit, I’m not going to help my friend clear an obstacle he otherwise couldn’t clear on his own,” he said, his tone heavy with sarcasm. Karkat looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Without waiting for a response, he took the stairs in two steps and grunted as he slowly lowered the sheet of metal onto the stairs in front of Tavros.

 

Once Karkat was sure it was in the right place, he tentatively stepped onto it and pushed his weight into it. The metal flexed just a little under him. He stepped back onto the front landing. “You’re good to go, Tav.”

 

“Thanks, Karkat.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and moved his hands so they were gripping the pushrim of his chair. He backed up before he rocketed himself up the ramp, nearly ramming into Karkat, who managed to duck out of the way in time.

 

Karkat muttered some elaborate curse under his breath before he walked around Tavros and pushed the door open. Tavros followed him in and looked around the room while Karkat let the door slam behind them.

 

The lobby had been significantly more furnished over the past two weeks, ranging from an arrangement of couches that surrounded a large HDTV to the left of the entrance, a large oak desk that looked like it was taken from a high scale corporation’s head office was in the center back of the room guarding the main hallway, and to the right were vending machines that, according to Equius, had been fixed and reprogrammed so they all just had to push in the selection they wanted in order to obtain their desired snack- no money required.

 

Tavros rolled his way over to the vending machines to see if Feferi came through with making sure there was a variety of snacks while Karkat marched his way over to the desk- specifically to the computer that was stationed there.

 

Karkat hunched over the keyboard as he woke the computer up and clicked one of the minimized programs. A window popped into view. It displayed approved ID entries of those on their team on one half of the window and the other half showed the entry and exit logs of everyone thanks to the facial identification system Sollux set up with Equius via the security cameras hidden throughout the building.

 

Karkat scanned over the most recently logged entries. Equius arrived early that morning, followed by Sollux an hour later. Feferi, Nepeta, and Aradia had arrived just twenty minutes ago, and lastly were himself and Tavros. He minimized the window once more and moved over to an office phone that had to be at least ten years old. He picked up the receiver and dialed *86- the intercom line.

 

“Attention all inept Power Mongrels. This is Karkat speaking. Drop whatever you are doing because everyone’s here. Move your asses to the main level elevator so we can finally see the mysterious and spectacular training room that has been off limits for two fucking weeks,” Karkat ordered- his voice echoing in the lobby and from the hallway. “You have three minutes.”

 

After he hung up, Karkat jerked his head to the left in a motion to signal Tavros to follow. The wheelchair clad man turned around and swiftly moved so that he was wheeling himself down the hallway beside Karkat.

 

The main hallway they were walking through stretched straight to the control room with only two other major branch offs. The first branch was on the right and only a couple yards from the lobby. There wasn’t much to it besides a broom closet and the stairwell Nepeta had suggested they all avoid for a few more months- something about one of Equius’ robots going berserk just prior days to the first team meeting and an oil leak. It was best not to question it too much, Karkat had decided.

 

The second hallway was on the left and was near smack dab in middle of the main hall. This is where many storage rooms and old offices had been when the base  was actually a warehouse. But, since the time Equius had obtained the building and he and Nepeta began their renovation project, a few old storage rooms had become labs and an office or two were lounge rooms. There were also the two locker rooms right by the elevator at the end of that hallway.

 

Karkat and Tavros had just turned down the second hallway when a door opened just a few feet before them, and Equius stepped into the brightly lit hall. He wore a frown as he blinked his eyes a few times before moving his sunglasses from the top of his head to cover his eyes. Just before he shut the door, the two other males caught the scent they could only identify as machinery.

 

“Hello,” Equius barely paused as he dabbed at his face with a presumably clean towel when he saw them.

 

“Hi, Equius,” Tavros replied while Karkat lifted his hand in a small gesture of greeting. Equius nodded and they continued down the hall in relative silence.

 

As the trio came to a stop in front of the elevator, Nepeta and Feferi strode out of the women’s locker room that happened to be right across the hall. Both girls were changed into athletic clothes- a tank top and yoga pants for Nepeta; a sports bra and cotton capris for Feferi.

 

“And that’s how I managed to convince the board to expand the research lab and extend my grant!” Feferi was bubbly as usual as bounced on her heels next to Nepeta.

 

“That’s great, Fef! Does that mean you’ll be studying your cuttlefish more in depth?” Nepeta was grinning.

 

“Shore does! I think I’ll get to go into the field a few times, too, which is pawsitively EXCITING!”

 

Nepeta and Feferi’s chatter ceased as the two women greeted their friends- notably Nepeta’s pounce tackle greeting for Equius that sent him to the floor. Tavros and Feferi laughed loudly as Equius began to scold Nepeta, who mocked him in return. Karkat could only shake his head at the absurdity of their actions.

 

“See, Sollux! I told you they would be here before us, but you just HAD to finish that section of gibberish!”

 

“It’s not gibberith, AA, it was a very thenthitive part of the thyntax.”

 

Aradia stuck her tongue out at him as she jogged ahead to where the rest of the team was waiting.

 

“Good job, shit head, you get a penalty for being late. Maybe you can use the time it takes you to run two miles on the treadmill to reconsider your actions.” 

 

“Wait, what the fuck, KK? I wathn’t the only one who wath late. Why doethn’t AA get a penalty?” Sollux crossed his arms and scowled at Karkat.

 

“You need the exercise, Mister Telapathetic. I know she was more than likely waiting on you to finish up some dumb syntax due to the fact that she is too nice to leave you behind,” Karkat crossed his arms, too, and easily matched Sollux’s scowl. “Not to mention, as good of a friend as Aradia is, she still scares the shit out of me.”

 

“Good!” The brunette in question piped up with a smirk on her face. “Besides, I don’t need as much training as a certain computer geek.”

 

“And there you have it, Sollux,” Karkat exclaimed as they walked into the large elevator- it was large enough to fit up to twenty people Equius commented-  so there was plenty of space for everyone to be comfortable.

 

Equius pushed the B1 and B2 buttons as the door closed. The elevator hummed to life and for a moment, most of the group couldn’t tell if they were moving or not.

 

“Basement one is where the control station for the training room is and also the robots repair room!” Nepeta spoke up, causing the others to look where she was standing by the doors. The elevator chimed, and she stepped to the side as the doors opened. “I’ll be going to Basement two to go to the training room entrance. The medical bay is down there, too.”

 

She shooed the group out of the elevator then and waved as the doors shut once more to deliver her down to the lowest level of the building.

 

Equius looked over the small group that had exited the elevator with him. They all were glancing around the hallway even though there wasn’t much to look at- the hallway only had three doors: the control station, the robotics repair, and a broom closet that also housed some of the elevator’s mechanics.

 

Without waiting to see what the others would do, Equius turned and walked down to the only door that was made of plexiglass and framed by steel. The door opened with a mechanical swish, and he walked in, immediately going to the main control that was set in front of a bay window. He could hear the others follow him in before the door closed.

 

He flipped a few switches, causing some monitors to hum to life and the lights turn on from the opposite side of the bay windows, revealing the training room that was nearly as large as a high school football field. 

 

“Whoa,” Tavros wheeled himself over to the windows and looked out into the room, Karkat, Sollux, and Feferi following suit and looking equally surprised. 

 

Nepeta stood in the center of the gymnasium like room. The vaulted ceilings hid paintball guns, lasers, and other types of training arsenal most of which would be aimed at her for this demonstration.  She glanced up at the glass wall on the first basement level. Behind it, she could make out Equius at the main controls, Sollux and Tavros to his right, Feferi and Karkat to his left- all of whom were looking back at her.

 

She drew the aries symbol in the air in front of her and shrugged. Equius lifted his head and glanced behind him. Aradia popped into view between Sollux and Tavros, offering Nepeta her signature grin, double pistols, and a wink. Nepeta chuckled and turned around, attention switching to the training room.

 

Nepeta started walking to the far left corner, which Equius had previously designated as her starting point. She took long strides and closed her eyes as she started to shift. Her tail poked out of the slit in her yoga pants; eyes opening to more details; ears perked up on the top of her head. She slicked her bangs back when she reached the start point.

 

Turning back to the control room, Nepeta lifted her head. She could still see them, although now the room had been dimmed so they were merely silhouettes that reflected the glow of some of the instruments.

 

Equius was waiting for her signal, to which he would then start this session. Nepeta shifted back and forth on her heels, tensing and relaxing her muscles as she scanned over what she could see of the room, which given the layout, wasn’t very much more than walls on the other end- likely the maze Equius had mentioned- and rubble that took up a lot of space in the center of the room. She didn’t bother to question where he had obtained it- she could smell the lingering scent of ash and smoke.

 

With one final scan around the room, Nepeta raised her right hand up and waved. She heard whirring coming from the ceiling, along with the echo of a metal door opening and shutting a few seconds after.

 

“ Training session: Level 3. Leo trial E will commence in three ….  two ….  one ….” A loud ringing caused Nepeta to wince, hands shooting up to cover her poor ears.

 

“Dammit, Equius! I don’t want to go deaf!” Nepeta shouted, knowing Equius would hear her through one of the various microphones that were littered throughout the room.

 

She took a breath and started running. She barely made it four yards before a screeching overcame the intercom causing Nepeta to stumble. She caught herself quickly and sent a glare at the darkened window just as the screeching turned into a synthetic music mix. The thumping bass made her heart pound in her chest as she looked around.

 

“What ith thith? ‘Thave the Thitizen’ like in that one thuperhero movie?” Sollux crossed his arms as he looked down at the current layout for the training room. “I thwear thith is practically the thame thing- just more obthicals and less dummies to rescue.”

 

“It is far more complicated than that,” Equius was busy sorting through the stats that were being relayed to him from the monitors. “There are checkpoints hidden in the training room. Depending on the order in which she completes the obstacles and time it takes for her to reach the checkpoints, various new challenges will be sent out. She can not complete the exercise until all challenges have been nulled.”

 

Karkat looked out at Nepeta has she sprang over a pile of rubble. She was doing well so far, but he had to wonder if she realized there were three stealth robots heading in her direction. “So, she doesn’t have to complete all the obstacles. The only goal is to null whatever damn ‘challenges’ you send out?”

 

“Yes. Although I have limited control over what challenges she sets off,” Equius backed away from the statistics monitor and went to another across the room. It was relaying Nepeta’s vitals: heart rate, blood pressure, etc. “The most we can do from our positions in the control room are observe Nepeta’s actions and watch the arsenal to insure that they do not malfunction.”

 

Karkat turned his attention away from from Nepeta and looked at Equius. He knit his brow together. “Have you had malfunctions before? Is this training rig even safe?”

 

“It is one hundred percent safe. The last malfunction it had was due to Nepeta’s fervent enthusiasm for the course. On another note, the paintball guns are calibrated to shoot the paintballs with far more force than the ones you might be used to. They  will leave a bruise that will last for a few days. Because of this, the session will end automatically if one of the paintballs hits your cranium.”

 

“Dear god, someone get me a clipboard so I can start taking notes,” Karkat pinched the bridge of his nose. “If there are paintballs that do more than give you a concussion and robots that are sent to track you down, you’re making this far more dangerous than we’ll face out in the field.”

 

Equius’ mouth formed a thin line, “I only want to ensure that she is one hundred percent prepared for anything. I nearly lost Nepeta once, and I will not let that happen again. It is my duty to protect her.”

 

Back down in the training room, Nepeta was making her way over the last bit of rubble before the maze. She knew this was the main obstacle Equius wanted her to get through, seeing as despite being a cat-shifter, she most definitely was not a cat burglar and had set off more than one laser sensor when she tried to stop a heist or two.

Jumping from the top of the rubble pile and causing some dust to rise up around her calves when she landed, Nepeta was about to head into the maze when she heard a distant ‘click’.

 

Her shoulders slumped as she groaned quietly to herself. A blur shot by right in front of her. Nepeta reared back and glanced to her right, where just jutting out over the peak of some rubble, a metallic head and gun were aimed directly at her.

 

“Damn it,” Nepeta shot into the maze as more shots were fired. She should have expected the robot- Equius had been sending a robot or two into her training sessions since she started the level three regimen. This was the first time they were out without her setting off one of the checkpoints though.

 

She skidded around a corner and nearly tripped over herself in attempt to avoid the first section of laser sensor. From the ceiling, there was no warning from the paintball guns as two of them began to rapidly fire ammunition into the maze.

 

Sensors be damned, Nepeta barreled down the hall as the paintball assault followed on her heels. A two way split was ahead of her, one which would lead her further into the maze while one would lead to a dead end. She skidded to a halt and looked between the two directions- just long enough to have a paintball to her shoulder.

 

She hissed and decided to turn right. She barely took a step before another shot hit her in the side of her ribs with enough force to knock her into the wall. Nepeta grimaced and turned, her eyes immediately falling upon not one, but two robots walking towards her with their guns at the ready.

 

Nepeta took a breath and threw herself forward to try and put a barrier between herself and the robots. She heard them immediately fire at the place she had been standing just seconds before, but ignored it- this stretch of the maze was short and had three options for her to take. This time she didn’t stop to think. She darted left…

 

Only to meet with a dead end.

 

Nepeta growled and turned around. Without the advantage of a wall or two to jump behind, she was left to with having to take both robots on rather than forcing them to separate.

 

And she didn’t have to wait long before they were blocking her exit. One of stood to the left as the other was one step behind and on the right. They came to a stop in unison, a near inaudible clicking coming from both their guns.

 

Nepeta frowned, stood up straighter, and crossed her arms as she looked them over. The one on the right was one of Equius’ earlier models- a swift uppercut below it’s jaw would disable it- while its counterpart was one of the pre-Mayday stealth robots. That one she would have to take out first. Maybe she could break it’s visual sensors. Those were notably weak, but she’d have to some how get closer to that one.

 

She smirked and raised her arms in surrender.

 

“No need for the guns, boys,” Nepeta took a step forward and watched as the guns jerked towards her torso. She raised an eyebrow. “You trying to break my heart before I break yours?”

 

There was no response, not that she expected one. She stood still for one more moment before she leapt at the one on the right. The robots immediately opened fire on Nepeta, which she  had expected. She twisted her body, barely missing a majority of the paintballs that they shot at her. One managed to hit her arm though, which caused her to wince at the sudden throbbing that came from her upper left arm.

 

She landed in a crouch right in front of her target, and with a grin on her face, she thrust herself upwards, fist at the ready, and landed a square hit right at the base of the robot’s jaw. She felt the polyfiber that made up the robot’s outer shell crack, and the robot fell to the ground.

 

The second robot came after her next- as it turned, she leaned back and brought her right leg up in an arch where she then slammed her heel with as much force as she could upon wrist that held the robot’s gun.

 

The grip the robot had on the weapon released, and the gun clattered to the ground. Nepeta let out a breath from her nose while the robot stood still for a second. Taking the opening, she reared her fist back and slammed it right into the visual sensors.

 

It didn’t move as she pulled her hand away. Nepeta looked over it, listening carefully. It was still humming, so she placed her hand over its face and slammed it into the maze wall. The robot shuddered before slumping down to the ground.

 

As the second robot deactivated, Nepeta could only huff and try and catch her breath. She stepped around the two bodies and slowly walked back the way she had came. It took her about five minutes of careful treading through the laser sensors before she was back out into the rubble half of the room.

 

She glanced up at the ceiling, a victorious smile on her lips as the lights above the maze dimmed and a melodious ‘ping’ echoed around her. She completed one obstacle, but there was still another somewhere, seeing as despite having disabling two robots in the maze, there had been no checkpoint notification.  

 

Nepeta glanced around and started to pick her way over the nearest pile. There had to be one more of those dumb robots around here, so she would seek it out and take it down before it could turn its visual sensor on her.

 

Looking around the piles of rubble, she spotted the tallest one was near the entrance. Deciding to use that one to give her a vantage point, Nepeta quickened her pace.

 

The pile itself was at least fifteen feet high and was spread out over about thirty feet from what she could tell as she clambered through a small valley between two of the smaller piles.

 

Her ear twitched to the right as some pebbles fell to the ground beside her. Nepeta turned on her heel and gasped as she dodged an uppercut. She jumped to put at least a couple feet between herself and her assailant.

 

Nepeta hissed at the robot. It stood at the ready, metal fists raised in defense. She gave it a quick once over in attempt to find it’s weak spots, but it seemed as though Equius had gotten better at arming these damned things.

“Come on, tin man,” she taunted. The robot didn’t twitch. She could hear a gentle hum begin to vibrate from within it, though, then a whoosh of the hydraulics that no doubt made up its ‘muscle movement’.

She blinked at yelped as the robot lunged at her. It’s right arm thrust forward as she reared back, nearly tripping over a small chunk of rubble. Nepeta twisted her body to the side and dropped to the floor. Using the momentum, she threw her leg out to try and swipe its legs out, only for the robot to catch onto her. It had crouched in time with the start of her swipe and managed to catch her foot before impact.

A gasp escaped her as the robot stood once more, taking her with it. She could feel the blood starting to rush to her head as it held her upside down.

“ Leo acquired. Training sequence will end in 10… 9… “

“Oh, no. I am not going to lose to a robot,” Nepeta growled and let her foot relax. She concentrated her weight and let her foot slip out of the shoe.

“ 6… 5… Countdown stopped. ”

Nepeta dropped to the ground and jumped back to her feet. The robot dropped the arm that had just been holding her and the boot fell to the floor with a light thud.

Her eyes narrowed, and in one swift movement, she bought her leg up, her bare foot shifting so sharp claws were at the ready, and then she slammed the foot right into the robot’s chest. Her claws sliced straight into the metal armor, and with a push, she took the robot to the ground.

She huffed out a breath and forced herself to take a couple deep breaths as she eyed the robot. A moment passed before she retracted her claws from its chest and took a step back. Its gears and hydraulics were still thrumming with life, but it was down for the count.

At least until she started to turn her back on it.

Just as Nepeta was about to head to the exit door, she heard it. The whirring gears got louder and the sound of metal creaking followed by slamming into the concrete floor made her turn back as quickly as she had turned to leave.

Nepeta felt déjà vu when its right fist was aimed right at her. A growl ripped out of her throat as she threw her hands right over the oncoming arm and forced her claws into it. The metal dug at her skin, but the pain was pushed aside as she broke through wires and weaker gears. The force behind the punch was lessened, but she still winced when the fist came into contact with her ribs.

Her pupils narrowed, her gasp sounding more like a hiss. She began to release the arm, staring at the visual sensors all the while.

“ Training session: Level 3. Leo trial E complete. ”

Nepeta growled again, ignoring the automated intercom, and thrust her claws straight through the remaining parts. She pulled the arm right off and kicked the disabled robot to the ground. She glanced down at the arm in her hands and tossed it somewhere over a pile of rubble.

“Nepeta!”

She blinked and forced herself to calm down as Equius barreled through the doorway behind her. She turned to face him.

He ran right up to her and immediately took her hands into his own and lifted them up. Olive green blood was flowing out of small gashes in her fingers while the tip of one of her claws was definitely broken into a jagged edge.

“That was unnecessarily reckless of you, Nepeta,” Equius mumbled as her turned her hands in different directions.

“It was unnecessary for you to program you dumb robots to try and break my fucking ribs, Equius.”

He glared at her over his sunglasses. “Language.”

“My point still stands.”

He pulled his lips into a taught line released a breath through his nose. “Let’s take you to the medical bay and see if Tavros will be able to stitch these wounds.

…

 

The medical bay stunk with antiseptic, much like a hospital. Nepeta’s nose had remained wrinkled in distaste since Equius had escorted her in, and that had been nearly twenty minutes ago.

Tavros was tending to her hands, carefully stitching each finger with skill. Equius stood by his side, watching each movement as if Tavros would do something to hurt Nepeta instead- which she knew the vet would never do.

Karkat was pacing on the opposite side of the room, actively ignoring the green stained bed sheets that covered the plastic bed Nepeta was perched on. Aradia and Feferi were pulling open draws and making lists of all the supplies that they had and what they would very likely need.

“Tho…” Sollux was leaning against the wall and staring pointedly at Nepeta. She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Not only can you thift into a half-cat lady, but your clawth can rip through metal. Anything elthe we thould know?

“Aside from being able to full on shift and freakishly fast healing? I can snap a man’s neck with the flick of a wrist when I’m like this,” Nepeta grinned deviously. Tavros pulled away and stared up at her.

“I, uh, really hope you don’t plan to demonstrate that anytime soon.”

Equius snorted. Feferi looked up from the drawer she was currently investigating, “Oh, Nep wouldn’t do that! She only broke a bear’s neck because it was trying to krill her first.”

“That was years ago though!” Nepeta quickly added and tried to laugh it off. Everyone in the room but Feferi was gaping at her. Aradia seemed mildly impressed, Equius looked horrified.

“Okay, ignoring the fact that you apparently killed a bear with your bare claws,” Karkat was the first to shake off the shock. He readjusted the clipboard in his hands and readied a pencil. “Can you explain the ‘full on shift’ and healing?”

Nepeta shrugged and watched as Tavros moved forward once again to finish stitching the last two fingers. “It’s just how it sounds. Right now I’m only in a partial shift.”

She blinked and twitched her ears. Some of her bangs fell into her eyes and she blew the white locks out of the way.

“Full shifting is when I allow my body to fully transition from human to cat. I haven’t done that in a few years though… I can’t control my instincts when I do. The feral part of me takes over,” she admitted and drooped her head. Karkat looked up from his note taking. His expression softened, but before he could say anything, Aradia trotted over to Nepeta and plopped down beside her.

“It takes a lot of practice,” Aradia smiled at Nepeta, who looked up at her. “When I first became Aries, I had little control over what I could do. The ghosts controlled me. It took nearly a year and a half before they relinquished control over to me.”

“And that’s another reason I wanted to form this team,” Karkat stepped forward. He gave Aradia a nod. “We can help each other improve further than what we learned on our own.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Nepeta nodded. Tavros tied the last stitch and stretched his arms before he carefully removed the green tainted gloves. He grinned.

“You should be good now, uh, just don’t tear my stitches, please.”

She lifted her hands up and turned her hands over and back a few times. “Can I pull them out in about an hour?”

“Uh, Nepeta, it takes more than an hour for wounds like that to heal,” Tavros pushed her hands down.

“’Freakishly fast healing’?” She lifted the edge of her shirt up to reveal the area where she had been hit not only by the paintball but also the final robot’s fist. The large green, yellow, and blue bruise that had been examined before Tavros began to stitch her fingers had shrunk to less than a third of its original size. Nepeta prodded the bruise, wincing when she touched the part that was still a blue-green shade.

“I’ve gotten pretty good at estimating how long it takes for different wounds to heal.”

“Oh, wow,” Tavros was examining the bruise with wide eyes. “Well, um, I’d rather check to see if they  are healed and take the stitches out myself… How are you able to, uh, heal that fast?”

“I think it has to do with being a shifter or an olive blood. Equius actually had this theory about how shifting and my biological structure. The basic idea is that when I shift, my body slips between the two genetic forms easily and because of that, it can repair itself just as quick and efficiently by replacing and repairing cells down to the molecular level. Of course, this is all depending on the type of injury, too.”

“Hey Aradia? Can you come here for a second? There are a few items in this cabinet that I need some help sorting through,” Feferi called over her shoulder as she pulled different jars and bottles out of one of the last cabinets.

“Sure!” Aradia hopped off the bed and walked around Tavros as he listened to Nepeta. Equius would put forth his two cents or clear up part of his theory. Sollux ended up striding over to Aradia and Feferi to help them retrieve the higher up shelf items with his telekinesis.

Karkat stood back and watched them, listening as the others chattered away.

It wasn’t until he looked up at the clock on the wall above the door that he snapped back into focus.

“Okay, everyone shut the fuck up so we can get down to business with the team meeting!” Karkat shouted as he scowled at everyone in the room. The other six occupants silenced and turned to him. “Good. We have two main things to discuss today: training room scheduling and scouting teams.”

“No need to yell, KK. It’th not like we were waiting on you to take the initiative to be the ‘leader’ or anything,” Sollux smirked at Karkat and shifted so he could lean against the counter.

Karkat just rolled his eyes and drew a line across the middle of the top sheet of paper. 

“We’ll go over the scouting teams first since the first run is tonight. I was thinking that we could have two teams to each cover one half of the city. Teams will consist of two people- one on tech support who will stay here while the other will be in the field. For now, you won’t have any regular partner. I want to see who works best with who.”

“If that is the case, I do not see any reason that Nepeta and I will not be a team. We have been working as a unit for a long time,” Equius crossed his arms.

“Well, it’s not just you two anymore, dumb nuts. If you’re out of town or down for the count, who’s going to be her partner?”

“Ludicrous. Nothing of that sort will happen. I will always be available to be Nepeta’s ‘tech support’.”

“Yeah, well, guess what? I’m the leader so you’re going to be doing this my way. I want to see how cognitive everyone functions. So moving on.”

“It’ll be fine, Equius,” Nepeta whispered and reached over to pat Equius’ arm as he huffed in indignation.

“I looked over the job schedules everyone sent me last week, and the four people that were available for tonight were Sollux, Aradia, Nepeta, and Tavros. Feferi and Equius, you’ll both be taking the Thursday scouting run.”

“Sounds good to me! I’m reelly looking forward to my first scout!” Feferi beamed. Karkat nodded.

“We’ll have Equius give you the rundown for scout routes after we’re done here. For tonight though, Aradia and Nepeta will be in the field, while Tavros and Sollux are on tech team.”

“Uh, I’ll need someone to go over the computer system with me,” Tavros looked a bit sheepish.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll give you a quick walk through, Tav.” Tavros nodded as Karkat continued. “Aradia, I’m pairing you with Tavros, and Nepeta, that leaves you with Sollux.”

Karkat looked at them while the two teams looked at their respective partners. “Do we have any problems?”

“Nope! I’m confident Tavros and I will work together splendidly! It’ll kind of be like when we used to LARP together!” Aradia grinned and began to place all the bottles and jars they had taken out back into the cabinet.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to this, too,” Tavros gave Aradia a thumbs up.

“Ath for me and NP,” Sollux and Nepeta were still staring at each other. “I don’t have any problemth with it if thhe doethn’t.”

Nepeta just shrugged. “I’m purrfectly fine with whoever. I trust Sollux.”

“I’ll trutht you ath long as you don’t do anything reckleth.”

“Moving on then. We’ll have a training once a week- this is required for everyone,” Karkat flipped to a new, blank sheet of paper where he started drawing up a time table. “I don’t care when you do it, but it’d be best if Equius or Nepeta were here to monitor your session. We’ll also work around everyone’s jobs, so unless you have a broken bone or are on your deathbed or some crazy shit like that, no one is getting out of training.”

Sollux raised his hand and Karkat groaned. “What, Captor.”

One of Sollux’s eyebrows ticked up in annoyance, but otherwise he remained passive. “That goeth for you, too, right?”

Karkat paused and tapped his pen against the clipboard. “Yeah, but I am not training with any of you assholes around.”

“But you just said that Equius or I need to be here to monitor training,” Nepeta said as she kicked her legs back and forth.

“Yeah, well, I don’t need you here to help me, because unlike most of you, I know my fucking limits.”

“Wait, hold on,” Sollux stared down Karkat as he seemed to realize something. “Ith thith about your blood? Becauthe if we find out what powers you have, we’ll figure out your thupid blood color and you can no longer be all thecretive and high and mighty around uth?”

Karkat was shooting Sollux the most irritated glare. “You know what? Fuck you. I have my reasons for keeping it under wraps, and one of those is for the safety of everyone in this room.

“Karkat, you can tell us,” Aradia smiled brightly at him. He just scowled in return. “I can assure that we’ll find out eventually and it won’t matter to us. I already know it and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest! I’d actually like to get a few blood samples so I can-”

“You are not coming near me with one of those pinching, mechanical bloodsuckers,” Karkat actually took a step back as he eyed Aradia. “And I don’t know how you found out, but I swear to god if you tell anyone-”

She waved him off and made a zipping motion across her lips. No one said anything for a few moments before Karkat finally muttered something about “asshole ghosts” and “prying teammates” as he clicked his pen a couple times and went back to looking over his time table.

“Let’s just get this last thing done and everyone but tonight’s scouting teams can go home.”

 

\---

 

Nepeta grimaced as she adjusted the new earwig in attempt to make it stay in place while somehow being comfortable. A difficult feat it seemed.

 

Aradia sat on the opposite side of the roof, chatting away over her own earwig and mic setup. Tavros was her partner for tonight’s scouting, while Nepeta had Sollux. The shifter was honestly surprised when Karkat listed the pairs, but as he said, this was too see who worked together the most seamlessly. Sollux and Aradia were obviously good partners, as were Nepeta and Equius, but what if they weren’t on the same shift?

 

A static buzzed through the earwig, causing Nepeta to still.

 

“ NP, will you quit mething with my equipment? We need to go over the route one more time. ” Nepeta flinched and tapped the mic that was on the collar of her uniform.

 

“Turn your mic down, Sollux, that hurt my ears!”

 

“ Thorry. That wath unintentional. This is a practithe run, remember? Is this volume better? ” His voice wasn’t nearly as loud.

 

Nepeta smiled. “Much. I can hear the traffic and you clearly. Now what was that about the route?”   
  
“ I just want to run through it with you one more time while I get my camerath on the thtreets thet up .”

 

She leaned back against the door to the stairwell. Aradia was changing into Aries and she watched the transformation intently. A black mist seemed to swell out of the gravel that covered her area of the roof. Slowly, it engulfed her yet Nepeta could still see Aradia pretty well probably only because she had already shifted into Leo.

 

The trademark grin Aradia normally wore slowly disappeared to be replaced with a forlorn. Her skin turned to a dull, pale grey. But most noticeable was how Aradia’s eyes seemed to have a layer of film cover her irises. Nepeta gasped as she swore those white eyes stared right into her very soul, sending a chilled shudder down her spine.

 

“ NP? ”

 

Nepeta shook her head. With a quick wave to Aries as she disappeared, she turned her attention back to Sollux. “Okay. It’s one of my usual routes, so there isn’t much to run through. I go north to 6th street then head east until I reach Hermera’s. From there I go west three blocks, north six, west twelve, and at that point, I should meet up with Aries at the market center.”

 

“ That’th what I have on my monitor. After you meet with Arad- I mean Arieth, you thircle back to bathe by going thouth along thide the highway, right? ”

 

“Yep!” Nepeta walked away from the stairwell door and hopped onto the ledge of the building. “I turn back to base at the stadium exit.”

 

“ Got it. I think I hacked into the main thecurity cameras on the route…. And, I have vithual of you. Let’s get this thing thtarted .”

 

One deep breath. One glance at opposite building where she would be leaping to. Nepeta cleared her mind and focused. She wasn’t Nepeta now. Leo let her instincts kick in, and suddenly she was free. She leapt and hit the other roof sprinting.

 

The night air nipped at Leo’s cheeks as she easily crossed her mental checkpoints along the scout route. She would stop at these spots and survey the area. Equius had been the one to point out these locations to her early on in her Leo career (once he finally gave into helping her that is). The likelihood of crime was higher in the specific spots, but the reasons for this were still a mystery to Equius and her.

 

Nonetheless, nothing unusual was happening at checkpoint six tonight, so Leo strode around the edge of the building’s roof to reach her next leap point. As she stepped around a gargoyle, her foot landed right on a small patch of ice. Leo bit back a yelp as she retracted her foot and grabbed onto the gargoyle to avoid falling.

 

That could have been bad. Winter was nearly here if there was ice forming on buildings already, she thought, which meant the holiday season was coming up, too. But before the holidays…

 

She ruffled her hair a bit and jumped over the patch of ice. A few seconds later, she was on her way to the next checkpoint.

 

“Hey, Sollux. When do you think the first snow will fall?”

 

Leo landed on the ledge of her seventh checkpoint. Two more until she reached the market center where Aries should be waiting. There was a bit of static on the other end of her earwig.

 

“ Conthidering it’s November, probably in the next few weekth .”

 

Leo smiled. “I hope so! I want to build a few snow kitties out on my window sill again this year.”

 

“...  You build thnowcatth outside of your window .”

 

She purred happily. “Yes! They are very cute, too, and Pounce likes them! She’ll mew at them through the window.”

 

Sollux sighed. “ Why the hell are we talking about thnowcatth? We need to focuth on the patrol, NP .”

 

She frowned as she landed on a fire escape. She could see a few security cameras from her vantage point, so Leo looked at each on, a pout on her face.

 

“ Don’t give me that look. This is my firtht patrol, and I don’t feel like thcrewing it up thomehow and having to deal with KK’s bitching tomorrow .”

 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t talk, Sollux. Most of the time, nothing happens on a scout. I think the worst I’ve had to deal with in the past month was some douche trying to mug two women.”

 

“ You thould go knock on wood, NP. You just jinxed us. Thomething bad is now going to happen becauthe you thaid that .”

 

Leo rolled her eyes and started up the fire escape. “I doubt it. Nothing has crossed my senses tonight.”

 

“ That’th what they all thay before thit goeth down .”

 

She ignored his comment as she clambered onto the next roof. It was slick here, too, she noted as she treaded carefully. Checkpoint seven was still about fifteen blocks from the market center, and if she counted how long she would spend at the next two checkpoints, she could make it there in about 45 minutes. Maybe less if there weren’t any muggers tonight.

 

Leo sat down on the edge of the building. Below her was a five way intersection- one of the only two in Alternia City. During the day, it’d be bustling with business men and women, loitering teenagers, and exuberated shoppers. It was home to many fine mom and pop shops- ones she would often go to and window shop. She smiled and looked down the street to her right. If she went that way about two blocks, she’d be able to find Kanaya’s studio.

 

“ Hey, NP, I’m catching thome weird blob on my cameras. You see anything or am I jutht dealing with interferenthe? ”

 

Her ears perked up and Leo glanced around. “A ‘weird blob’ is  very descriptive, Sollux. Can you elaborate on that?”

 

“Not really. No. I keep theeing a dark blur crothing around Andrew Avenue.”

 

She frowned and slowly stood. Andrew Avenue was the smaller of the five streets, and the one with the least lighting. She looked down the dimly lit avenue, but from where she was, she couldn’t see much.

 

Leo walked a few feet to the left and jumped over to a neighboring building, landing as quietly as she could. There. Now she could see Andrew Avenue a bit more clearly. She walked closer to the raised ledge.

 

The street was still. The streetlamp that was normally flickering was completely out. The hair on the back of her neck started to rise.

 

“Sollux, there’s a bank two buildings down from the intersection. Furst- I mean First National Bank I think. Can you get a visual?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper. Something wasn’t right. That lamp had been flickering for months. And there was a late night bar that would still be open, but she couldn’t see any neon lights on where the bar should be.

 

“ Hold on, I’m getting the feed right now .”

 

Leo’s muscles were tensing.  Shit! She ducked down closer to the rooftop. There  had been a blur. The security feeds weren’t malfuntioning.

 

“Hurry up, Sollux. What ever you saw is bigger than you think!”

 

“ Fuck, are you theriouth? Thould I call back up? ”

 

“We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. I’d rather know what we are going up against so we don’t have another May Day.”

 

“ Okay, yeah. You’re right .” There was a pause, but the static continued. “ Got it. Pulling up the live feed now .”

 

“Do you see have a clear view of it?” She was desperately scanning the street level around the bank. She swore that’s where it had been.

 

“Nothing. Thit. I’m getting Tavroth to send Arieth your way. I got a bad feeling about thith.”

 

She didn’t argue. Instead she slowly crawled back away from the ledge. “Tell them where I am. Aries might be able to get closer to whatever it is, so we’ll go with what she gives us.”

 

“Thounds like a plan…. Tavroth just got Arieth to change courthe. Thhe thould be there in five minuteth. Hold tight, NP.”

 

“Can do, Sollux.” As she started to bunker down, her ear twitched. Down below, she could hear chatter. Oh gog. She moved back to the ledge and looked down. A group of five young adults were heading right towards Andrew Ave. Her eyes widened.

 

“Shit, shit, shit. I’m heading to street level and clearing some civilians,” Leo took a bated breath before jumping off the building. It was only five stories tall, but the impact on the sidewalk still made her limbs tremble. Not that it mattered right now. She straightened up and looked across the street. The group was crossing the road. Her eyes trailed after them for a second. They were definitely still in college or maybe fresh graduates. Too young. Too full of life. She looked back to Andrew Avenue and gasped. She could see it.

 

Right in the dead center of of the street stood a dark figure. It wasn’t broad, but it was tall and had a sizable mass. It was perfectly still, but Leo knew it was waiting for the civilians to reach it. She had to act. She couldn’t let five people get killed.

 

“ NP, Nepeta, Leo- get out of there. I thee it, too. Fall back! ”

 

“STOP!”

 

The group halted and looked around before they spotted Leo. They all let out exclamations at the sight of her. But she brushed them off. She turned her attention back to the figure, which now focused on her. A low growl was coming from it, and she shuddered.

 

“ Nepeta, get the fuck out of there! ”

 

The group quieted down as the growling slowly got louder. Leo watched from the corner of her eye as they froze in place. None dared to move.

 

“What are you doing?!  RUN! ” She screamed at them. That got their attention back. They looked at each other before turning heel and sprinting back the way they came.

 

The figure’s growling was horribly loud now and it was starting to walk towards her. It walked right into the intersection and stopped. Terror swept through Leo’s veins as she took in the sight before her.

 

The dark figure wasn’t just a large mass. It had a tall and slender body, two pitch black wings protruding from it’s back. In it’s left hand, it wielded a chef’s knife that was coated in red.

 

Leo stared at it, mouth gaping and eyes wide. A sickly grin was on the creature’s face, and at that point, she was certain it wasn’t human.

 

She unconsciously took a half step back, and that’s all the monster apparently needed to see. Never had she dealt with an enemy that moved this swiftly. Leo barely had time to bring her arms up in defence.

  
  
  


…

  
  
  
  
Sollux threw his headset onto the table. His blood ran cold at the multiple angles he had Nepeta and that…. thing. “Oh god, Tavroth, call Equiuth while I call Karkat. Thith is bad. Thith is very bad.  Hold on Nepeta .”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm totally not sorry for how I ended this chapter.)


End file.
